CAIRO: The Egyptian group Mobteloon, who call on Egyptians to void their votes in the run-off of the presidential elections on June 16 and 17, said they would not allow Egyptian's votes be stolen or manipulated and invited others from different points of view to join their call, the group said at a press conference in Cairo on Sunday. “We aim to lower the percentage of both candidates and we are planting a seed of opposition to the winner from the beginning,” said Ghada al-Shabander, a volunteer with the campaign, during the press conference that took place on Sunday at noon. The press conference was called for to announce the birth of the campaign that took the slogan “bring down their legitimacy, void their votes.” The group asked Egyptians to mark both candidates and write their own personal message of why they refuse both candidates. The group's Facebook page published pictures from Egyptians abroad who voted this week, with their voting ballot with messages they wrote in opposition to both candidates. “From today we decided to reclaim our unique and courageous revolutionary path and rewrite our country's future ourselves,” said Mohamed Ghoniem from the campaign. “We tell you now that we will not let our votes be manipulated or our will frauded and we will make sure to document all our void votes through all means,” said Ghoniem, addressing those responsible for the elections in the country. To keep track of the process, they invited voters who plan to void their votes to text the word Mobtel, or one who voids, and their city to count the numbers of participation in the campaign. Large numbers of Egyptians, mostly pro-revolutionaries, found themselves in a predicament after the first round of elections brought about the Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi in a face-off with Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. The campaign said that the first round of the election saw many violations, yet the elections committee chose to ignore them, which produced, according to the campaign, “the worst possible outcome.” “We will not elect Shafiq as the first president in post-revolution Egypt, the military bred minister from the old regime and Mubarak's last prime minister,” they said. “We will not elect Morsi, the head of a political party that repeatedly promised to not monopolize the political scene and give a chance to everyone and broke his promise.” The group added that “our votes will not be a stepping stone for you to the ruling palace rather a thunder chant that will bring down your walls if Egyptian freedom is compromised.”
