Egypt vote contrasts with thuggery and rigging of past

[Electric Monk]

Some good news from the middle east.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/19/us-egypt-referendum-scene-idUSTRE72I3MU20110319?pageNumber=2

FAHMEEN, Egypt | Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:00pm EDT

To reassure voters, this time the clerks will count the votes in situ at the end of the day in the presence of the judicial official assigned to that station.

In the past the ballot boxes went to counting centers controlled by the police and the local authorities. In 2005 disgruntled judges reported that in some cases the officials invented the numbers.

"I'm voting for the first time ever because I know there will be a fair result. We feel that our voice will be heard," said Ahmed Essawi, 52, a manager at a cement factory. "This time there will be value added."

"In the past it was always fake. People would threaten you before you even went in. So voting was a risking business and it had no meaning anyway," he added.

more