Egyptian people vote on Saturday -- Sunday results get announced (March 19-20, 2011)

from EDWARD CODY & RICHARD LEIBY correspondet story in WashingtonPost dot-com "World" section:
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CAIRO — Celebrating their first taste of genuine democracy, Egyptians in unprecedented numbers streamed into polling places Saturday to endorse or refuse the military’s proposed constitutional amendments and, more broadly, take the first step toward moving their revolution into the halls of government.

Voters standing in long lines, some waiting uncomplainingly up to three hours to cast their ballots, rejoiced in what they described as a feeling of participating in a real election for the first time. They applauded the promise of an end to the rigged parliamentary and presidential elections under toppled President Hosni Mubarak, which they derided as frauds that produced predetermined results divorced from the real will of the people.
“Before, we could all just sit at home,” explained Khalid Hassan, a 46-year-old window repairman voting in Cairo’s humble Abassiyah neighborhood. “We knew they would just say what they wanted about the results, and our vote had no meaning. I could say no, they would say yes. I could say yes, they would say no.”
Fatima Abdul Khuluf, an unemployed university graduate voting for the first time in the modest Rud al-Faraq quarter of Cairo, put it another way: “Now we have democracy,” she said. “I feel for the first time that I can make my voice heard.”
The turnout, described as unprecedented by State Information Service Director Ismail Khairat, suggested an eagerness by millions of Egyptians to carry forward the democratic uprising that began Jan. 25 in Tahrir, or Liberation, Square and led to Mubarak’s departure Feb. 11. Whatever the verdict on the proposed amendments, the vote propelled Egypt to the front of the line in a reform movement that has swept through Arab nations across the Middle East over the past three months.
“The turnout reflects the desire of a free and proud people to decide the future of their country,” Khairat exulted.
As many as 45 million Egyptians, a little more than half the population, were eligible to vote under relaxed qualifications. Anyone older than 18 with a national identity card could show up at any polling station to cast his ballot. Under a light police and military presence, Cairo voters lined up outside schools and social clubs — one line for women, another for men—and flashed crimson ink-stained fingers after getting their turn in the voting booths.
A major monitoring group, the Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development, noted scattered violations of polling rules, saying in some places curtains were not provided, indelible ink was easily removed and judges were not stamping ballots to certify their authenticity. But there were no reports of the gross vote-rigging that was commonplace under Mubarak.
“I think 80 percent of it will be fair,” said Mervat Shenoda, a 50-year-old boutique and factory owner voting in Cairo’s upscale Zamalek district. “It’s difficult for us to go from not having any trust to having full trust.”
The referendum asked voters to approve or disapprove en bloc several changes that would limit the president to two four-year terms, curb executive powers, make it easier to form political parties and allow the legislature and voters to more easily end the emergency powers that have been in effect for 30 years, since the assassination of President Anwar Sadat.
The High Judicial Commission, assigned to supervise the referendum, said results probably would be ready for announcement by Sunday evening. If the amendments are approved, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has suggested it would organize legislative elections in July and a presidential vote as early as September. If they’re rejected, the military will step in and outline its own transitional document.

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