Long lines at polls as Egypt holds landmark vote

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SARAH EL DEEB and BEN HUBBARD

CAIRO (AP) - Shaking off years of political apathy, Egyptians turned out in long lines at voting stations Monday in their nation's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a giant step toward what they hope will be a democracy after decades of dictatorship.

The vote promises to be the fairest and cleanest election in Egypt in living memory, but it takes place amid sharp polarization among Egyptians and confusion over the nation's direction. On one level, the election is a competition between Islamic parties who want to take Egypt in a direction toward religious rule and more liberal groups that want a separation between religion and politics.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized group, along with other Islamists are expected to do well in the vote.

But also weighing heavily on voters' mind was whether this election will really set Egypt on a path of democracy after months of turmoil under the rule of the military, which took power after Mubarak's Feb. 11 fall. Only 10 days before the elections, major protests erupted demanding the generals step aside because of fears they will not allow real freedoms.



Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20111128/D9R9NSQ81.html

---

An Egyptian woman rests in front of campaign posters outside a polling station on the first day of parliamentary elections in Alexandria, Egypt, Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Shaking off years of political apathy, Egyptians on Monday began voting in their nation's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a giant step toward what many in the country hope will be a democratic Egypt after decades of dictatorship.(AP Photo/Tarek Fawzy)