Enthusiastic young people have begun applying for voting cards in preparation for coming parliamentary and presidential elections. Increasing numbers are heading to the nearest police station to reclaim their long forgotten right to vote and obtain the document. “I feel the country is mine now and as a good citizen I have to vote; there is the constitution poll, the parliamentary and the presidential elections are coming up, and I want to take part in these historic events,” says Amina, a young artist. The process was pretty easy for most young women who headed to the nearest police station in their neighborhood to apply for the card. “It took us 15 minutes to finish the entire procedure,” says Heba Wahdan, a young woman. Wahdan added that she was praised by the female employee at the police station for taking such a step. The deadline for issuing the voting card is 6 March 2011. Those who applied, or are in the process of applying, will receive their cards the beginning of May. According to an official source from a police station, people apply for the card just in case they are required to use it. However, the official expressed near certainty that voters would be able to use identification cards instead in order to vote in coming elections. The source added that the numbers of applicants are increasing by the day and the level of awareness is unprecedented. The source concluded that registration requires about three months. All you need to do is bring your ID and a photocopy of it to the police station between 8AM and 1PM and fill out an application that gets signed later by a department police officer. “On my way out of the police station I was asked by an official whether I found the service adequate during my visit,” stated one happy applicant. Others state that the adequacy of service fluctuates from one police station to another.
