A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Friday, December 14, 2012

Referendum Eve

Because for the first time for a referendum, the Egyptian Constitutional Referendum will be held in two stages, it will be over a week before we know the results. Voting tomorrow will be 10 governorates:Cairo, Alexandria, Gharbiyya, Sharqiyya, Daqahliyya, Asyut, Sohag, Aswan, and North and South Sinai. These represent roughly half the voting population but are a mix of Upper and Lower Egypt; of the three Metro Ca9ro governorates (Cairo, Giza, Qalybuiyya) only Cairo is voting.tomorrow. The other 17 governorates vote December 22.
Al-Ahram notes that of those voting tomorrow, Cairo, Daqahliyya, Sharqiyya and Gharbiyya went heavilly against president Morsi and for Ahmad Shafiq in the Presidential runoff.
Most of the liberal and secular parties have dropped the idea of a boycott in favor of urging their supporters to vote "no." The likelihood of a majority "no" vote seems remote, however.

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