High turnout marks 'orderly' Egypt vote
High turnout marks 'orderly' Egypt vote. Some irregularities, but turnout was massive, with many people excited that for the first time their votes would actually be counted. Long lines, orderly queues and a mostly calm and jubilant atmosphere marked Egypt's first nationwide vote since a popular uprising forced Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's long-time president, to step down in February, leaving the country without a constitution and under the control of an unelected military council.
Observers reported an unprecedented turnout across the country, as thousands came out on Saturday to vote "yes" or "no" on a package of controversial constitutional amendments that may set the stage for parliamentary elections within months. The results are scheduled to be released on Sunday. The country's most established political forces - Mubarak's National Democratic Party and the Muslim Brotherhood - are both pushing for approval, while most of the opposition parties and the youth movement want the amendments defeated. But even those who feared the amendments would pass, paving the way for a fast election likely dominated by the NDP and the Brotherhood, seemed happy to cast a vote that, for the first time, they believed would actually be counted.
"Happy, ecstatic, delirious, laughing, crying," Karim Beshara, who had pledged to vote against the amendments, wrote on Twitter. "This is definitely the country I was fighting for and it is totally worth it." In Cairo, voters chanting "Those times are past us!" reportedly ejected Abdel Azim Wazeer, a local governor, from a polling station after he attempted to cut in line.