In scorching hot summer weather, Egyptians headed to the polls last Wednesday and Thursday to choose a new president, the first since the 25 January 2011 Revolution
In scorching hot summer weather, Egyptians headed to the polls last Wednesday and Thursday to choose a new president, the first since the 25 January 2011 Revolution. This will also be the first president in Egypt and the world to be chosen with as yet undetermined authorities, since the country is in the process of preparing to draft a new constitution.
Turnout varied in different spots in the country; some places saw long lines of voters who waited for hours to cast their ballots, others witnessed poor turnout. Many voters waited for the cooler weather after sunset to cast their ballots. The polling stations were open till 8:00pm local time. So far, however, observers say the turnout is inferior to that of the parliamentary elections last November, which saw a turnout of some 60 per cent. Until Watani International went to press a definite figure for the turnout had not been announced, but preliminary estimates did not exceed 50 per cent.
Nationwide, incidents of election-related violence were scant, but violations abounded. Most common among them were the bribing of voters for the benefit of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Mohamed Mursi, campaigning outside the balloting stations, and banning the representatives of presidential candidates from entering the polling stations.
WATANI International
24 May 2012