Egypt held referendum on draft constitution in two phases – one on 15 December and the other on 22 December. On the former day 10 provinces including Cairo and Alexandria went to polls while on the latter day the remaining 17 provinces witnessed long queues of Egyptians, men and women, old and young, standing patiently to cast votes. Both the days witnessed heavy turnout so much so that the election commission had to extend the close of voting from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. The entire process of referendum was completed under full judicial supervision and monitoring of human rights organizations, with full local and international media cover.
The initial overall results of the referendum are 64% ‘Yes’ and 36% ‘No’ to the national charter. By the time we are going to the press the High Judicial Elections Commission (HJEC), the authority officially supervising the referendum process, is yet to make the final announcement of the result. 16.6 million voters cast ballots. Once the constitution comes into effect with the final announcement of the result of referendum, President Mohamed Morsi is expected to declare the process of general elections.