Egypt's electoral commission has decided to organize the referendum on the draft constitution in two stages, state TV said early Wednesday. The vote initially set for 15 December, will now take place both on Saturday and a week later on December 22, with half of the governorates voting each day. The move comes as most judges have refused to supervise the vote in protest over the president's recent constitutional declaration increasing his own powers and undermining the judiciary. Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend said in a press conference Tuesday that 90 percent of judges and prosecutors across the country would not participate in the upcoming constitutional referendum based on a survey conducted by the club. The prosecutor general issued a memorandum on Tuesday appealing to prosecutors nationwide to supervise the referendum. Talaat Abdallah, who was put in place by the president's decree, wrote that he understands prosecutors suspended their work because of the first constitutional declaration which they felt compromised the independence of the judiciary, but pointed out that the president replaced the declaration with a weaker one after meeting with various political forces. Egyptian expatriates began voting abroad on Wednesday on the controversial constitution. The 586,000 voters eligible to cast ballots abroad have four days to do so at designated embassies and consulates. The counting process for those ballots will begin immediately after voting ends Saturday evening, the elections officials said in a statement Tuesday. The results will be submitted to the general elections committee and then to the High Judicial Elections Commission.
