CAIRO: By 9am on Saturday, over 1,000 Egyptians waited patiently in line outside a polling station in Cairo's Zamalek neighborhood to cast their votes in a referendum on constitutional amendments. The polling station was calm and orderly. Outside the entrance, a few police officers and two soldiers stood, relaxed and talking amongst themselves. Press had full access to the polling station: Bikya Masr's reporter was allowed into the school and into the polling room with few questions. It is a striking contrast to previous votes in Egypt. During Egypt's parliamentary elections last November, press were barred from many polling stations and questioned thoroughly if they were allowed entrance. Any the parliamentary elections were anything but calm. In Cairo alone three people were killed. For Saturday's referendum, Egyptians are allowed to vote with their national ID cards and may vote at any polling station. To ensure no one votes twice, voters are required to dip a finger in a jar of indelible ink, which should stain their fingers for at least a day. The concession of allowing voters to use their national ID cards rather than voting cards is important: there is a strict time frame in which voting cards can be issued, and many Egyptians have never bothered to register for one, because they have always felt the elections were too rigged for their votes to matter. “Today I am voting for the first time,” Amira Guindy told Bikya Masr as she waited in line to cast her vote. “We hope that today's vote will be fair.” “I'm voting no,” she added, “because I want an entirely new system.” Rumors have been trickling in that in some polling stations the indelible ink, which is supposed to stain voters' fingers to they cannot vote twice, washes off easily. Other reports have also surfaced that some ballots do not have the official stamp, and Bikya Masr has heard reports from Suez of police with weapons standing inside polling stations. However, the mood is light. “For the first time, people think their votes will actually be counted,” said 23-year-old Nour Kamel as she stepped into a line several blocks long. BM
