Egypt casts votes in historic elections

The New World Foundation for Development and Human Rights, through its observers in 20 governorates, are monitoring the second round of the presidential election.  Preliminary monitoring and documentationhas been forwarded to the central operations room which includes several observations concerning the flow of the voting process within the first two hours of the first day of voting. Most of the poll stations opened between 8.00 – 8.30am while 10 percent of the poll stations in some governorates didn\'t open until 9.30am due to the late arrival of the judges and officials appointed to manage the elections in Assiout, Dakahleya, Red Sea, Beheira, al Wadi al Gadid, Matrouh, Suez, Kafr el Sheikh, Arish and Tor South Sinai governorates. Low turnouts were reported at poll stations in the cities where the percentage of voters averaged between 5 and 7 percent of the total voters registered,  while in the countryside there was an average turnout of about 10 percent of the total registered voters in the opening hours of the election. The monitoring group also noted a high presence from Copts in certain governorates including Cairo, Mahalla, Alexandria, Shubra al Khaima, Mansoura and Tanta, and a high presence of women and peasants in Qalyubeya, Gharbeya, Sharqeya, Kafr el Sheikh, Fayoum, Menia Luxor and Aswan. The Observers also reported a significant decrease in the distribution of publicity flyers of both candidates,  Mohammed Morsi, the Islamaist candidate and Ahmed Shafiq, the former premier of Hosni Mubarak\'s government. This is a remarkable development in the second round compared to the first, when publicity material was used to influence voters during the voting process. There was confusion at some polling stations when voters used their own pens instead of the  pens provided in each location, even after being reminded by the judges several times about the importance of using the station\'s pens. No polling stations were set up in the prisons of Torah, Marg and Qanater housing former ministers and politicians who have been accused of corruption namely: Gamal Mubarak, Alaa Mubarak, Safwat el Sherif, Fathy Sorour, Ahmed Nathif, Mohamed Ibrahim Soliman, Sameh Fahmy and Ahmed Ezz who failed to present a request  to the prison administration declaring their wish to participate in the voting, but also because the Prison Authority was busy handling the graduate exams of some prisoners. Some members of the former candidates\' campaigns, namely those of Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, Hamdeen Sabbahi and Khaled Aly, have joined Morsi\'s campaign to urge their supporters to vote for him, asking them to present themselves early at the polls, especially in the governorates of Damietta, Kafr el Sheikh, Gharbeya, Dakahleya, Qalyubeya, Beheira, Fayoum, Menia, Alexandria and Sohag. The campaign also reported that certain Freedom and Justice members have provided transportation to voters, taking them from their homes to the polling stations t oensure a high rate of turnout for their candidate. They followed the instructions of the Muslim Brotherhood\'s spiritual leader and the offices of the Brotherhood to avoid any conflict or argument with the supporters of the other candidate, Ahmed Shafiq, at  the stations. Egypt\'s Coptic Church did not prevent Coptic activists  from voting for Ahmed Shafiq. It was also reported that former members of parliament and Shura Council in Delta villages and Upper Egypt, soon after the decision of the Constitutional Court to dissolve the parliament, have been canvassing mayors, villages elders, heads of families and citizens, promising that they would solve  problems in their villages and employ their youth if they support Ahmed Shafiq in the second round.