Egyptians Head to the Polls for Constitutional Referendum

Photo Credit: Reuters

Egypt held the long awaited referendum for its highly contentious draft constitution on December 15.  The first round of voting took place in ten of Egypt’s 27 districts, including Cairo and Alexandria, while a second round will take place on December 22 in the country’s predominantly rural districts. Preliminary results suggest that voter turnout reached only 32 percent. According to the Freedom and Justice Party, “4,588,147 or 56.5 percent of the turnout voted yes for the draft constitution while 3,524,178 or 43.5 percent voted against it.”

Meanwhile, the National Salvation Front called for a repeat of the vote, alleging the balloting had been “marred by irregularities and violations.” The group vowed to investigate more than 4,000 complaints about the referendum.  A statement issued by the Cairo Center for Human Rights and others claimed, “The violations included the absence of full judicial administration, banning the civil society monitors from attending the count process, allowing members of the Freedom and Justice Party to enter polling stations, religious campaigning and tagging whoever refuses as blasphemous, deliberately blocking the voting process in some stations, shutting other stations before the scheduled time, and mass voting on behalf of women in some stations.” The Muslim Brotherhood’s top lawyer, Mohamed El-Damati, responded to the criticism saying, “The political elite continue to swallow the bait of Mubarak’s remnants and believe their war is with us. The real war is between all of Egypt and those remnants.” National Salvation Front leader Mohamed ElBaradei tweeted a dismal outlook following the referendum saying, “Country split, flagrant irregularities, low turnout, disillusion w/Islamists on the rise. Illiteracy remains a hurdle.”