CAIRO: Polling stations in Egypt opened at 8am Saturday for the referendum on proposed constitutional amendments. Since then, ques outside polling stations across Cairo have continued to grow as Egyptians go out to cast their votes. Extremely long lines have been reported in Zamalek, Heliopolis, and Maadi, among other places, with some people waiting hours to cast their vote. Despite the long lines, many Egyptians are willing to wait. Reports from Cairo indicate polling stations are orderly and calm, unprecedented for a vote in Egypt. Those over the age of 60 are permitted to skip to the front of the line to cast their vote, and in many areas the women's lines are longer than men's. Cairo's governor, Abdel Azim Wazeer, was kicked out of a polling station by voters for not waiting his turn. In contrast, Twitter was buzzing this morning over Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's refusal to cut in line. Instead, the Prime Minister who once told demonstrators he would be on the streets with the people if he could not achieve their goals waited in line with the people for his turn to cast his ballot. Social media is once more an important tool for Egyptian activists. They use networks such as Twitter to discuss their experiences, keep up to date on where to find the shortest lines, and to report possible irregularities in the vote. One of the first issues to be raised Saturday morning dealt with the official stamps which should be on each ballot. Some ballots did not have the official stamp, and voters worried those ballots would not be counted. However, the Supreme Judicial Committee in charge of supervising the referendum guaranteed the validity of the unstamped ballots so long as the supervising judge's signature is present, according to a statement on the committee's Facebook page. Egypt has a long history of rigged elections, and today's referendum is considered by many Egyptians to be their first opportunity to cast a ballot that will actually be counted. Young people are taking pictures of their inked fingers to post on their Facebook profiles and share with their friends, proud to have voted today. BM
