Final results of vote in Suez, Luxor and Ismailia say ‘Yes’

Opposition parties argue over the legitimacy of results 64 percent voted in approval of the controversial constitution according to unofficial results in the second round of the Egyptian referendum. The Muslim Brotherhood is already claiming victory although official results will be formally announced tomorrow. Opposition parties are arguing the legitimacy of results and a press conference is anticipated in next few hours. A “Yes” vote was largely expected, although activists had intensified their campaigns both for and against the draft constitution across the country yesterday ahead of the poll in an eleventh-hour drive for support.  The first stage of voting held in mid-December resulted in a 57 percent “Yes” vote. The constitution will go into effect on a 50 percent plus one result.
Egypt’s Supreme Electoral Committee (SEC) in charge of the referendum on the draft constitution taking place in 17 provinces across the country extended voting hours to 11:00pm last night instead of 7:00pm. Senior SEC official Mahmoud Abu Shousha reported that the referendum process was “running smoothly after judges opened polling stations on time.” He said “only a very small number” of polling stations had experienced delays in opening their doors “due to traffic issues.” Abu Shousha’s remarks come after wide-spread reports of delays in the first hours of the vote. Despite this, turn-out was reported at around 30%, relatively low compared to previous elections since the revolution.
Delays were the most frequently-reported infractions, along with Islamists campaigning for a “Yes” vote outside polling stations, which is in violation of electoral regulations. The Muslim Brotherhood’s own operations centre has also reported that a police vehicle was handing out literature promoting a “No” vote in the town of Fayed, while the Strong Egypt Party reported that a little boy was stamping ballot papers in two polling substations in Behira. Other reports included suspicions over the identity of overseeing officials, understaffed polling stations, polling officials attempting to influence voters and incidents in which overseeing judges prevented observers carrying permits from entering electoral premises.
The Ministry of the Interior had released a statement on Saturday saying it would “fulfill its duties with regards to the referendum process” and calling on all citizens to express their opinions “in a democratic framework, respecting opposing opinions.” The deputy Minister of Justice and head of the operations chamber observing the voting process, Judge Hesham Raouf confirmed that ballot papers and ballot boxes had arrives in their appointed voting stations “under police and army protection.”  SEC senior official Mohammed El-Tambolli had also urged voters to report any violations to the Public Prosecution, adding that the judge’s marking of the ballot on behalf of the voter is considered “an electoral crime.”
El-Tambolli told Arabstoday that all media personnel are allowed to enter voting stations to cover the vote, adding that journalists who were prevented from covering electoral proceedings “must complain to the Supreme Committee immediately.” He added that the committee “welcomes” complaints as they “help us to better perform our duties.”  He reaffirmed that polling stations had planned to stay open “until the last voter in the station perimeter” had cast his or her ballot.
The SEC has announced that this second of stage of the referendum covers 25,495,273 voters registered in 6,724 polling stations overseen by 7,252 judges: a number organisers say was sufficient to ensure the smooth running of the polling process.
Judge Ahmed Mustafa Mohammed, the judge supervising voting at Kafr Al-Hadadin School revealed the results of the counting before the end of the voting period, and members of the Popular Current party reported the incident to the police. However, the total of votes for "Yes" was 640, and the total of those who voted "No" was 434.
The operations room of the National Rescue Front revealed about 500 reported violations. According to their press statement, a dentist pretended to be a judge in Port Said, and a professor pretended to be a judge in Tuna Aljabal. The statement added that other irregularities included many administrative problems, delays and unsealed ballot papers.  
After counting in Luxor’s 188 committees, it was reported that voters in favour of the constitution numbered 142,289, while the number of those who voted against it sat at 43,859. In Ismailia, there were 140,383 votes for “Yes” against 58,639 for “No”. Whilst in Suez, the result showed further progress of an approval with votes in favour totaling 105461, against 42934 voting “No”.