Thursday, September 08, 2005

Surprise

Mubarak wins. From the NYT:
Without monitors in place in most of the nearly 10,000 polling stations, it was Mr. Mubarak's National Democratic Party that effectively ran the voting process. Whether they were told to or not, many people acted as if Election Day was an exercise in leader worship.

"I vote for President Mubarak because I could not find any candidate more handsome than Hosni Mubarak," said Mohany Ziad, 48, as he cast his ballot in the Cairo neighborhood of Torah, and then pressed his neighbors to vote the same way.

At many polling stations, Mubarak supporters literally stood over voters as they cast their ballots. Murad Mahmoud Abdullah videotaped people in his polling station, and the message of intimidation was clear. Khalid Ahmed Muhammad stood beside voters chanting, "Hosni! Hosni!" in a threatening manner.

And in at least one polling station, the only person who appeared to be in charge was a governing party representative who wore a Mubarak button as he told people where to go to vote.
And according to the BBC, Ayman Nour is challenging the results and demanding a re-run.

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