Freedom and Justice Party Statement on Constitutional Poll Saturday

 The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)’s central operations room followed the course of the vote on Egypt’s new Constitution Saturday.

Our monitors noted a large turnout of voters. They further noted that the operation flowed smoothly, in a systematic manner, without incident, in the vast majority of polling stations in all governorates.

However, our observers have spotted the following abuses – until five o’clock in the evening, on Saturday:

* Some 90-minute delay in opening certain polling stations to voters in the morning, such as Hifni Nasif voting site, East of Cairo, due to the supervising judge’s late arrival.

* Illegal publicity calling electorate to vote "No" was seen on public transport buses in front of Omar Makram School polling station and other voting sites in Marg and Ain-Shams, Cairo.

* Polling station number 53 at Mohamed Nagib School was closed for half an hour.

* At voting site number 13 in Al-Khulafa Al-Rashideen Preparatory School, altercations took place between the supervising judge and a school worker, upon which the judge closed the polling station.

* Illegal publicity calling electorate to vote "No" was seen set up by the supporters of the Popular Current opposition party outside the Sheraton – Heliopolis voting place. Some voters complained to army personnel at the site to prevent such illegal publicity in the vicinity of the polling site.

* In the second constituency of Kafr El-Zayat, in voting sites 69 and 70, observers noted low numbers of employees required for smooth operation. Also, our observers noted that the numbers for some voters in the electoral rolls had been changed, which led to delays and longer lines of voters outside the polling stations.

* In the fourth constituency of Mahalla Town, in voting site 54, the judge angered voters by throwing doubt on the validity of the Constitution, and urging them to tick "No". The problem was resolved with the help of the General Committee’s head in Gharbiya governorate.

* In the first constituency of Zagazig Town, at Borden Elementary School, polling stations 24 and 25, the supervising judge refused all observers entry into the site.

* In addition to these irregularities which we observed until 5PM on Saturday, December 15, 2012, our monitors reported certain opposition groups spreading rumors and incorrect information among voters about the draft constitution, claiming all kinds of imaginary negative consequences if the charter is approved, warning of things like the confiscation of land from farmers, halting education in foreign languages ??and reduction of wages.

The FJP urges all to commit to accuracy and truthfulness so the democratic transformation can be completed, and the homeland moves forward with confidence towards stability and progress.