Turnout for a referendum on amendments to the nation's constitution last month was only five percent, far lower than the 27 percent reported by the government, local human rights groups said Tuesday. Voting in the referendum was also allegedly marred by widespread fraud, including ballot box stuffing and voter bribing, the six rights groups added in a joint report. The government has touted the amendments, which were passed in the March 26 referendum, as a democratic reform. But the opposition and rights groups condemned the changes, saying they restricted rights, cemented the hold on power by President Hosni Mubarak s ruling party and gave security forces broad powers of arrest. The most negative phenomenon was the weak turnout of voters because people did not know the content of the amendments and even those who voted did not know what they voted for, said the summary of the report, which was faxed to the news agency. Therefore the average of the turnout was five percent and in some polling stations was two to three percent. The rights groups, chief among them the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, had 1,200 observers at polling stations around the country. The opposition boycotted the referendum on the 34 amendments, which were put to a public vote only a week after they were approved by parliament, raising charges the government wanted to push them through to approval. According to government figures, turnout was 27 percent, with 76 percent of participants voting yes and 24 percent no.
