Voting has been underway for several hours, and there have been long lines reported at the voting centers. (Egyptian Blogger Mona el Tahawni commented that, for once it's good to be standing in a line)
For most Egyptians, this is the first time they've voted in an election where they didn't know the outcome ahead of time.
The essential breakdown in the "no" vs. "yes" vote is a disagreement over whether the constitutional reforms are necessary immediately despite their imperfections, or if they proposed changes are inadequate and should have more time spent on them.
This is, of course an oversimplification, and there are a variety of specific points of debate, but I'm not really equipped to explain the nuances. Instead I'll direct you to these three pages:
The specific proposed constitutional changes
"voting yes"
"voting no"
The important thing to note here is that the democratic process is underway in a healthy and inspiring fashion.
Here's to the Arab Spring
I look forward to analysis following conclusive results.
ReplyDeleteI would like to advertise some primary field research published by my friends and colleagues. You may find it insightful or interesting. It can be found at thereboot.org/egypt