Egyptians on Sunday took to polling stations across the country, commencing for the second day to cast their ballots on the constitutional amendments in the general referendum.
Nearly 61.34 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the referendum in 368 constituencies and 10,878 polling centers across Egypt. The referendum started on Saturday and continues until Monday at 9 pm.
Citizens flocked on Saturday to cast their votes on the first day of the referendum for Egyptians in the homeland. Judges and operations rooms set up by some parties confirmed heavy turnout at polling centers and the obvious participation of women and youth in the governorates of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Ismailia, Menufiya, Daqahlia and all Upper Egypt governorates.
Voting for Egyptian expatriates started on Friday at 140 Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad. Thousands took to the polling centers to cast their votes, with women as the notable majority. The referendum for expats reaches its final hours on Sunday.
Egypt’s House of Representatives has passed the constitutional amendments after voting on them during a plenary session on Tuesday evening. 531 MPs have approved the amendments and 22 others rejected them. One MP abstained from voting.
The amendments include a transitional article that allows the current president to remain in office until 2024. The current president can run for a second term of six years, possibly remaining until 2030.
The proposed constitutional amendments include the implementation of a senate, a second chamber for parliament, a women’s quota in parliament that designates female presence of no less than 25 percent of the members, the maintenance of youth and special percentages, appropriate representation of workers, farmers, youth and Copts, extending the presidential term in office from four to six years, and the appointment of one or more deputies to the president.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
