Day One of Post-Mubarak Election Goes Smoothly After Days of Unrest

Egyptians turned out in large numbers for the first round of what are expected to be the freest elections so far in their lifetimes, to launch what many have hoped to be a new era following the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

Despite numerous organizational snafus in the parliamentary poll, there were few reports of violence or widespread vote rigging that characterized most past Egyptian elections.

But a week of protests against military rulers, arguing the election process is deeply flawed, has left 42 people dead and more than 3,000 injured. Egypt remains divided, between Islamist parties and more secular and liberal parties - and between powerful military leaders and a protest movement calling for an immediate end to their rule.

There is also a long way to go before the elections can be declared a success for democracy. Elections for both houses of Parliament aren't due to wrap up until March; presidential elections are slated to be held before July. And it remains uncertain how much say the incoming Parliament will have in Egypt's governance.

Yet if they are broadly perceived as legitimate, the elections could stand as a historic first step toward genuine democracy for a country that has known only successive dictatorships for six decades and serve as a beacon for democracy movements throughout the Arab World.

Egypt's two largest cities, Cairo and Alexandria, took part on the first day of parliamentary polls, which will be held in three stages, organized by geographical region, ending in January.

Voters, some festive, others diligently contemplating who to vote for, waited in long lines, in some cases for hours, to cast ballots. In Alexandria, they endured a cold, persistent drizzle - some likely encouraged by a law imposing a 500 Egyptian pound ($85) fine on registered voters who don't vote.

"There doesn't appear to be any intention by the government to commit fraud as we have seen in previous elections," said Magdy Belal, head of an independent Egyptian election-monitoring organization.

"There's a big difference compared to past elections. It's as clear as the sunrise," said Jamal Khamis Azir, a 46-year-old carpenter and member of Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, after voting in a working-class district on the outskirts of Cairo. "There's security and there's no one menacing me."

Social Democratic Party spokeswoman Hala Mustafa, who had said she would boycott elections as long as the military remained in power, had a change of heart after seeing jubilant voters turn out in surprisingly high numbers.

"Even though the new Parliament will have no real power, this shows that Egyptians are willing to be peaceful democrats," she said.

The current constitution renders Parliament a largely toothless body, unable to choose a prime minister, appoint cabinet members or even pass laws without the approval of the executive branch, which is currently occupied by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

Parliament's power to appoint a committee to draft a new constitution is also in doubt. The military has indicated in recent weeks that it would like to reserve for itself the power to appoint 80% of the members on any constitutional committee, leaving parliament the right to tap only the remaining 20%.

Egyptians have never voted in such numbers or in a free vote, and the outcome is hugely uncertain. The Muslim Brotherhood, with its strong grass-roots organizational capabilities, deep pockets, and long history of political activism, is widely expected to do well.

The Brotherhood said in a statement Monday that the electoral process had "moved smoothly, in a satisfactory manner, in all constituencies."

The Egyptian Bloc, dominated by two new political parties - the Social Democratic Party, which represents a healthy share of the young activists who helped to lead the uprising against Mr. Mubarak, and the Free Egyptians, founded by telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris - appeared poised to attract much of the more liberal and secular vote, as well as Coptic Christians, who represent roughly 10% of the population.

Candidates representing powerful families and tribes in rural Egypt, with their entrenched patronage networks, as well as former members of the ruling National Democratic Party, many of whom have close ties to local security heavyweights and have long experience muscling through Egyptian electoral politics, are unpredictable factors that could tilt Parliament away from the demands of pro-democracy protesters.

Poor logistics seemed to be the most serious ill during Monday's voting. Some polling stations failed to open on time because ballots arrived late, and were allowed to remain open two hours later than others.

Voters and election monitors said some ballots lacked the official election commission stamp aimed at preventing ballot-box stuffing. There were numerous allegations of vote buying.

Election monitors said they remained concerned about the lack of clear procedures in place to secure ballot boxes overnight until a second day of first-round voting wraps up on Tuesday.

A judge in Dar el Salam, a densely populated district in Cairo, said the indelible ink used to prevent double voting arrived two hours late. Repeated calls to the election-operation center went unanswered, he said.

In the Cairo neighborhood of Daher, the presiding judge shut the polling station and stormed out in anger after a handful of female voters upbraided him for being unhelpful, according to police officers and voters who witnessed it.

As polling stations closed on Monday evening, such incidents didn't appear to be widespread enough to undermine the vote's integrity.

Egypt's judiciary, historically regarded as one of the country's more independent institutions even under the worst days of dictatorship, is responsible for overseeing the vote. Thousands of domestic civil-society organizations and a handful of international organizations are also acting as independent observers. In addition, political parties have their own observers at each polling station.

An American election observer observed "no gross violations" so far. "There was a little bit of chaos, but nothing shocking," the observer said. Campaigning outside polling stations was the most egregious violation noted by the monitor.