On Saturday, 22 December, the second phase of the constitutional referendum begins in the remaining 17 governorates of Egypt. In the first phase, the referendum took place in 10 governorates. Initial results show a turnout of about 31 percent and a prevalence of the “yes” vote on the draft by about 57 percent. In the second phase, 25,495,237 voters are registered to take part in the polls. The voting is taking place in Giza, Qalyubiya, Monufiya, Beheira, Kafr al-Sheikh, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, Marsa Matrouh, Red Sea, New Valley, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Minya, Luxor and Qena. Egypt Independent provides updates on the voting process in those different places throughout the day. The voting is taking place in 176 general polling stations and 6,274 sub-stations.
11:30 am: Delays have been reported in polling stations around the country due to judges arriving late. Delays were reported in five districts in the Red Sea Governorate in the touristic areas of Hurghada, Safaga and Marsa Alam. Similarly, 22 polling stations in the Delta governorate of Beheira opened late, also due to judges arriving late. In the Upper Egyptian governorate of Qena, the delay in opening some polling stations in the countryside has led to voters blocking a main road and threatening to storm the polling stations if no alternatives are offered.
11:00 am: The voting process in the upper Egyptian governorate of Qena began with a series of violations and chaos. The people of Ho village blocked a main road to protest the opening of their polling station being delayed for three hours. Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the judges had not arrived yet. Voters threatened to storm the polling stations and destroy the ballot boxes if no alternatives are presented. In other polling stations in the governorate, voters protested the removal of their names from lists and their transfer to other stations. In the Hagoura village, voters found that their sub-stations were merged with the main station, which is now to host 5,000 voters. Qena is home to 1,629,713 voters.
10:30: Voting kicked off in the Delta governorates with a high concentration of voters.
In Monufiya, many of the 57 polling stations were delayed in opening. Voter turnout so far has been average in the governorate, which is home to 2,236,898 voters. Monufiya Governor Mohamed Ali Beshr said, “Participation in the referendum on the constitution is a national and religious duty so that Egypt transitions to stability.” He called on citizens to go out and cast their ballots.
In the Delta governorate of Beheira, queues outside polling stations were already long in the early hours of the day. Beheira is a stronghold of voters with 3,341,241 votes.
10:00 am: Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie cast his ballot in his hometown of Beni Suef, Upper Egypt. After casting his ballot, the supreme guide said, “The media has been unfair to us and to the judiciary, and that’s why they have to be professional and care more about Egypt.” Badie said he was referring to allegations that the first round of voting was marred by violations, lack of judges and executives falsely claiming that they were judges.
“These alleged violations are not comparable to the violations that used to take place during the old regime’s rule. We are in a democratic event that the whole world is witnessing. Anyone witnessing violations should report them. We do not commit violations and we are
not afraid of anyone.”
Badie added that during regime of toppled President Hosni Mubarak, he never had the chance to cast his ballot because regime supporters would drive him away from his polling station, alleging that his name was not registered, as a means to discourage him from voting.
Meanwhile, in the same governorate, some polling stations were moved to different locations in the Qalha village for security reasons, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. The village chief Amr Salouma reportedly demanded the change in location because the stations were initially in the middle of a residential area, which he worried would encourage campaigning by different political movements, potentially leading to clashes. The new location is more manageable for maintaining security, he said.
9:30 am: In Giza, several districts saw a flood of voters accumulating in queues around the polling stations. Long lines of voters were reported in the affluent and middle-class districts of Dokki, Agouza and Sheikh Zayed. In the working class districts of Imbaba, some arguments erupted between voters at a polling station located in the Gawad Hosni School because of overcrowding, while some polling stations’ openings were delayed because judges were not ready. Similar delays were witnessed in the Haram area. Meanwhile, scuffles also erupted in the Ayyat district between Islamists who were promoting the “yes” vote outside a polling station and citizens who did not approve of their campaigning.
Giza has the lion’s share of voters in the second phase of the referendum with 4,383,701 voters.
Meanwhile, media gathered in the Shaimaa School in Dokki, where Prime Minister Hesham Qandil cast his ballot. Qandil spoke to fellow voters and asked them about their take on the voting, while he encouraged all of them to participate actively in the process. The same school is expecting a field visit by Sidqy Sobhy, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces. Dokki is also the district where Amr Darag, secretary general of the Constituent Assembly which drafted the constitution, will vote, as well as Essam Sultan, member of the assembly, and Salafi preacher and disqualified presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail.
9:00 am: Qandil toured some of the polling stations in Giza to ensure the process started smoothly, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported. Meanwhile, the voting has started in all governorates, with queues of voters already accumulating around some polling stations. Armed Forces personnel are deployed outside most stations.