Egyptian officials say the results of the first round of voting in parliamentary elections will be announced Friday evening local time , after delaying the announcement twice this week.

The results from Monday and Tuesday's polling in Cairo, Alexandria and seven other provinces were originally set to be released on Wednesday. However, election officials said they needed more time for vote-counting.

Observers have said Egypt's first elections since President Hosni Mubarak's February resignation were mostly peaceful. However, at least 42 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces in the lead-up to the polling.

On Friday, protesters moved back into Cairo's Tahrir Square to again call for an end to military rule. Some carried mock coffins during a symbolic funeral for demonstrators killed during earlier protests.

This week's voting was for seats in parliament's lower house. Egyptians in other provinces will cast ballots in two stages that will take place in the coming weeks. Egyptians then vote for the upper house. The process will not be over until March.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and the more conservative al-Nour Salafi Islamist groups are claiming strong showings from this week's vote.