Election: Historic, Predictable, Foul

Increased security, naturally so; security troops have been positioned around strategic spots in central Cairo since the early hours of the morning. Opposition movement Kefaya (Enough) says they have taken the right to demonstrate; they will demonstrate today; they are not waiting for anyone's permission. The PM is warning them, claiming a protest will be sabotaging the elections and that the police and security forces are charged to 'protect the voters.' Political parties have not been allowed to campaign the days leading up to today's election. Kefaya is however not a political party; it is a protest movement that has been a sore in the eye of the government since their protests began. In May and July, government thugs with clubs, backed up by uniformed security, crushed down on demonstrators. Kefaya leaders were imprisoned.

But will anyone vote today? The largest political movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, has not called for a boycott. But in the May 25 referendum, supervising judges said turn out was not more than three percent - sharply contrasting the government's claim of a 54 percent turnout.

The Wafd party says the police in Port Said have collected the drivers’ licenses of the city's taxi drivers to force them to transport government supporters to the polling stations...

Observers from the U.S. might want to remember that republican Congressman Tom Davis slapped the opposition movement and NGO's in the face two days ago by claiming independent monitors are not necessary.

Blood or not, today's election is a dirty mess.
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(9:01 AM) This entry was added to the previous because:
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I CAN NOT POST NEW ENTRIES TO THIS BLOG AT THE MOMENT, HOPEFULLY BLOGGER WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM SOON, THIS IS A TEST TO SEE IF ITS POSSIBLE TO EDIT POSTS THAT ARE ALREADY PRESENT ON THE BLOG. (8:56 AM)
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Egypt Warns Against Election Protests
The government warned on Tuesday that it would not tolerate election day protests, and the opposition fretted about possible ruling party dirty tricks in Egypt's first contested presidential vote.

Mubarak set to win Egypt poll, critics cry foul
President Hosni Mubarak is widely expected to win Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election on Wednesday, but his critics are crying foul even before voting begins.

Change unlikely in Egyptian elections

Who'll watch Egypt's historic vote?

Egyptians choose president in historic and predictable vote