Impoverished Provinces Pass Egypt’s Constitution
Egypt’s poor provinces prove decisive in passing Egypt’s constitution in an election marked by irregularities and low turnout, reports Mohannad Sabry from Cairo.
CAIRO — Egypt’s Higher Elections Commission announced Tuesday that Egypt’s constitution has passed by 63.8% of the vote, with turnout that reached only 32.9% of the country’s 51 million registered voters.
Out of the 16,755,012 valid ballots that were casted in nationwide and overseas polling stations throughout the two phases of the constitutional referendum, 10,693,911 voters endorsed the constitution while 6,061,101 voted against it.
The elections commission, composed of some of Egypt’s higher judges, confirmed at its Tuesday news conference at the State Information Service Center in Eastern Cairo that it had “looked thoroughly into all and every violation claim throughout the referendum.”
Judge Samir Abul Maati, head of the commission, who announced the results of the referendum, confirmed that “the ballot boxes suspected of being inaccurately administrated or were marred by serious irregularities were all discarded.”
