For the first time since the 1952 Revolution, the referendum over constitutional amendments witnessed true judicial supervision, Mona El-Nahhas reports Millions of Egyptians who headed on 19 March to ballot stations across the country to vote in a referendum on constitutional amendments were pleased to see judges present at each electoral committee regulating the entire process. With unlimited trust in the judiciary, the public was sure that the referendum's results would be 100 per cent fair and transparent. Unlike previous polls, when results were apparently known in advance, people this time were waiting anxiously for the results. After it was announced on Sunday evening that 77.2 per cent voted for the nine amended constitutional articles, the results were by and large accepted, especially by those who voted against. Judicial supervision over referendums and polls has been a demand by the public for years. However, the former regime of Hosni Mubarak prevented such measures from being taken. Thus, seeing that their voices would have no real effect, a sweeping majority of Egyptians, dubbed the "silent majority" preferred not to take part in any poll. The 25 January Revolution uncovered a process that was run by a corrupt security apparatus, by the National Democratic Party which derived its power from its head Mubarak and by thugs of the regime. The three worked as an organised team which would reportedly rig poll results in a way that would serve their interests. It was only in 2005 that the regime, pressured by a political movement calling for reform and change, announced that the parliamentary and presidential polls of that year would be supervised by the judiciary. In previous polls, judicial supervision was limited to the main electoral committees. Their presence, it is believed, was meant to lend rigged elections legitimacy. In 2005, judges supervised polls, with each electoral committee subject to the direct control of a judge. However, during their attempts to protect ballot boxes, judges were beaten by regime thugs. Immediately after, judges hurried to reveal the scope of rigging which they said marred the polls. To silence outspoken reformist judges, the government referred two of them to a disciplinary judicial committee. And as in 2007 judges were excluded from supervising future polls by means of an amendment that was introduced to Article 88 of the 1971 constitution (articles of that constitution have since been dissolved following a decree passed last month by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces). Now, after the ouster of Mubarak, judges have returned to supervise polls. Members of judicial bodies, the number of whom were estimated at 16,000, were commissioned by the Supreme Judicial Committee supervising the referendum to supervise the entire process. Preparing ballot stations across Egypt, checking the identity of voters before casting their voices, sorting out votes which was done inside electoral committees and finally announcing the results of the referendum were all supervised by judges, without the least interference from the security apparatus, the role of which was limited to securing electoral stations from outside. Each electoral committee was presided by a judge who was responsible for one to four ballot boxes, provided that there was no partition separating them. From the early hours of Saturday morning, judges examined ballot boxes to make sure they were empty. A few days prior to the voting, the higher judicial committee warned that any individual who voted more than once would be sentenced to three to five years in jail, in accordance with a decree recently passed by the Higher Council of the Armed Forces. Judges showed remarkable flexibility when dealing with complaints voiced by voters. On the day of the referendum, it was reported that some ballot cards did not bear the official seal. Voters insisted they would not cast their votes if the ballot cards were not sealed. The Supreme Judicial Committee decided that the signature of the head of the branch's electoral committee would serve as the required authenticity. At Nagaa Hammadi province, in the Qena governorate, judges were not unable to go to their electoral stations. In coordination with the Higher Council of the Armed Forces, the Supreme Judicial Committee made preparations to transport 90 judges via a military plane to Qena. To allow voters at Qena governorate to cast their votes, the committee decided to extend the voting period there for an extra two hours, ending at 10pm. The committee's decision was applied in other governorates where the voting process started late due to technical reasons. The shortage in the number of ballot boxes and ballot cards and in the quantities of phosphoric ink was another complaint reported to the Supreme Judicial Committee. Branch electoral committees were replenished with extra boxes, cards and ink. The number of electoral committees in Egypt, which was estimated at 43,000, was viewed by many as not being enough. Abul-Ela Madi, chairman of the newly founded Al-Wasat Party, suggested that such a number should be doubled in upcoming polls to guarantee a higher turnout of voters. The turnout percentage for Saturday's referendum was estimated by the Supreme Judicial Committee at 41 per cent, representing 18 million voters. Although the percentage was unprecedented, Madi believed it could have been higher. The number of Egyptians who have the right to vote is estimated at 45 million. According to Madi, a large number of voters were unable to cast their votes because of the insufficient number of electoral committees. Increasing the number of electoral committees is not easy, bearing in mind that the number of judges is not that large. The solution to this problem, as many suggest, lies in holding polls on two or three successive days to guarantee an organised process. During a press conference held on Sunday evening to announce the referendum results, judge Mohamed Attia, head of the Supreme Judicial Committee, pledged to take into account in future polls the negative aspects of the referendum. Talking to reporters, Attia stressed that complaints regarding electoral violations reported by NGO monitors and sent to his committee did not exceed 10. The absence of curtains which voters could stand behind and vote and the influence practised by certain political powers over voters ahead of the voting process were the two recurrent complaints reported by observers. "We informed the general prosecution of the violations to take the necessary legal measures," Attia said.
