Cairo: Independent monitors said widespread irregularities occurred on Saturday in the final round of Egypt’s vote on a controversial draft constitution that has sparked violence between supporters and opponents.
The Egyptian Coalition for Referendum Monitoring, a non-governmental group of watchdogs, said the voting in 17 provinces had been marred by illegal canvassing based on religious slogans, mass voting, lack of full judicial oversight and delayed opening of polling stations.
“It was clear that there were systematic and massive operations to mobilise the public to vote ‘Yes’ for the draft constitution, given that the unofficial tallies of the first stage had shown a slim majority in favour of the document,” the coalition said in a report.
The Bin Khaldoun Centre, a non-governmental institution, also cited instances of vote rigging, barring monitors from some poll stations and deliberate delay in polling in districts opposed to the proposed constitution.
Eight non-governmental groups last week demanded that the result of the first phase vote on December 15 be cancelled due to allegations of massive violations. The Supreme Election Commission, in charge of the two-stage voting, denied any serious violations had taken place.
The commission Saturday extended balloting by four hours, until 11pm (2100GMT), to cope with an increased turnout of voters, state media reported. The official result is expected either late Sunday or on Monday.
The voting was smooth, said the commission, as tens of thousands of army and security troops were deployed outside polling stations.
Around 56.5 per cent of first-round voters approved the Islamist-backed charter, according to unofficial results.
