CAIRO: Competition between Islamists and the Egyptian Bloc continued as voters in the southern city of Luxor cast their votes on the second day of parliamentary elections. "Due to the large Coptic population, the presence of the Egyptian Bloc list headed by the liberal Free Egyptians Party is strong against the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) of the Muslim Brotherhood," member of the Luxor Youth Coalition Ahmed Sayed told Daily News Egypt, adding that the FJP is likely to beat the Egyptian Bloc by a slight margin. Sayed added that the Salafi Al-Nour Party and the FJP in addition to a large number of independent candidates campaigned for their parties and candidates in front of the polling stations. Both army and police forces secured the polling stations in which the ballot boxes were kept overnight, dismissing fears of thugs attacking the location at night. "Inside the polling stations, only the army was present, outside there were both army and police forces," Sayed said. Sayed confirmed that the number of voters on Tuesday were similar to the number on Monday as the smooth voting process encouraged people to go on the second day. Due to the large voting turnout, the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) decided Monday to extend voting until 9 pm, but judges inside polling stations in Arment town of Luxor refused to comply with the decision. The judges said they were not officially notified about the extension decision. "Voters were angry but the situation was quickly contained as voters were promised to have a chance to vote on Tuesday.”
