CAIRO (Updated 1) - Egyptian voters in nine governorates rallied on Monday outside ballot stations to cast their votes in the first post-Mubarak elections. The nine governorates of the first phase include Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, Damietta, the Red Sea, Assiut, Luxor, Fayyoum and Kafr el-Sheikh. Long queues outside ballot stations speak of a big turnout. Despite muddy streets following heavy rains Sunday night, voters were keen to participate in the elections, the official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. In the coastal city of Alexandria, where eligible voters amount to 3,240,000, 24 deputies are to be chosen for the People's Assembly (Lower House of Parliament). In Cairo suburbs - Heliopolis, Nasr City, Maadi- large numbers of voters lined up outside stations from the early hours of the day. In Sayyeda Zeinab, the Interior Ministry operation room received two complains as corresspondents of the State TV and the BBC were prevented from entering the ballot stations. Officials of the Judicial Higher Elections Commission intervened to solve the problem. The Red Sea Governorate witnessed a low turnout of voters in the first hours of the day. Potential voters in the governorate are 220,000. Voting in some stations in Port Said has been suspended until the arrival of candidate representatives. However the voting process in the rest of the governorate stations is steadily proceeding with a high turnout especially in Al-arab District and Al-Sharq (East) where many women and elderly citizens were determined to cast their ballots.
