by John Galt
June 17, 2012 14:35 ET
The polls have just closed in Egypt and this election is just as important as the Greek elections despite popular belief. This election could well plunge Egypt either into a military dictatorship under a Mubarak stooge or worse, and Islamist v. secular civil war involving every nation in North Africa and the Middle East.
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UPDATE 18:50 ET – From al-Ahram:
12:26 Mursi (56.4 per cent) is now ahead of Shafiq (43.4 per cent) in Ahram Online’s latest countrywide tally.
A total of 492,080 votes have been counted.
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UPDATE 17:50 ET – Per the newspaper al-Ahram, Muslim Brotherhood claims this is a landslide 61-39%:
11:37 The Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party announce in a press conference on their television channel, Misr 25, the results after 1.3 million votes were tallied:
Mursi: 842,577 (61 per cent)
Shafiq: 541,785 (39 per cent)
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UPDATE 1705 ET – More updates with results via al-Ahram. It would appear that the Muslim Brotherhood will win an overwhelming victory:
10:55 Egyptian television coverage is momentarily shifting from the vote count to discussing the military council’s new addendum to the constitutional declaration.
10:44 The counts are in for seven polling stations in Assiut and the Brotherhood’s man is pulling further ahead:
Mursi: 4,204
Shafiq: 837
10:36 Mursi gets a head start in Shafiq’s home town in the Sharqiya governorate’s Heya district:
Mursi: 1,919
Shafiq: 501
10:24 More wins for Mursi in Upper Egypt, according to the Brotherhood’s official website, Ikhwan Online.
The site claims that counts have been completed at 20 polling stations in Minya Governorate, the tally stands at:
Mursi: 19,215
Shafiq: 5,382
10:15 The counts are in for five polling stations in Sohag, Upper Egypt, and Mursi is taking the lead. Here’s how the tally stands:
Mursi: 4.333
Shafiq: 837
UPDATE 1625 ET via MediaNET2 in Egypt:
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces on Sunday held an emergency meeting, the third in three days, to discuss legal procedures after the election of a president.
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UPDATE 16:00 ET via al-Watan:
Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt: Morsy wins by far
During a press statement made during his vote in Alexandria, said Hussein Ibrahim, leader of the majority of the People’s Assembly dissolved, that Dr. Mohamed Morsy Advanced wide margin in the vote, pointing out that the indicators a few hours before voting ended on the second day of the elections confirms winning marina and a wide margin on the his opponent.
Ibrahim said: “Any violation of what the results say the street now and support the candidate of the street to the revolution would be fraud and manipulation of popular will, which could prompt the people to revolt against the desperate attempts of the Council’s military coup against his will.”
Also from the Egypt Independent this hour:
9:30 pm: Some media outlets have reported instances of polling stations closing before 10 pm.
Al-Watan newspaper’s website said that the judge responsible for the Hasmda School polling station in Sohag announced the station’s results, saying that Mohamed Morsy received 831 votes and Ahmed Shafiq got 136 votes.
State-run news agency MENA reported that the judges in charge of a polling station in the working class neighborhood of Dar al-Salam in Cairo began counting while people were still casting ballots in order to save time.
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UPDATE 15:30 ET via Al-Arabiya:
Egypt voter turnout lower in run-off than in first round: election commission
Egypt’s Supreme Electoral Commission said that voter turnout in the run-off presidential election was lower on Saturday and Sunday than in the first round ballot.
Voting concluded at 10 p.m. (20:00 GMT), following a last-minute extension to deal with expectations of late voting.
Egyptians went to the pull in the second round of the presidential race, making a daunting choice between a former general of the old guard and an Islamist who says he is running for God.
Many were perplexed and fearful of the future and signs were that, as in last month’s first round, millions would not vote.
The contest, pitting Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq against Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, the veteran Islamist movement, is supposed to seal a democratic transition that began with Mubarak’s overthrow 16 months ago.
But concern over a backlash among the disappointed losers saw the Interior Ministry put forces on alert across the country for the end of two days of voting at 10 p.m. (20:00 GMT).
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And no sooner than did I publish this….
Live updates: Voting extended to 10 pm on second day of runoff – Egypt Independent
From the above story:
7:30 pm: Polling stations were closed in the Bir al-Abd village in North Sinai after clashes between Shafiq and Morsy supporters.
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Here are some stories from Egypt before the close of voting:
Egyptians vote in final day of presidential election-Al Arabiya
Brotherhood denies reports it ordered rocket fire at Israel – Egypt Independent
Sporadic violence seen on the second day of presidential runoffs-Egypt Independent
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