50 percent turnout in landmark Egypt poll

Egypt's election commission yesterday estimated that around 50 percent of eligible voters participated in the first presidential poll since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak.
"Indications show that the number of ballots (represent) almost 50 percent of those eligible to vote," said election commission chief Faruq Sultan, quoted by the MENA news agency.
Sultan spoke just hours before polling stations were to close on the second and final day of voting in the landmark election.
Around 50 million eligible voters were choosing among 12 candidates, with the frontrunners divided between Islamists who say they will champion the uprising's goals and Mubarak-era ministers.
Pollsters say the large number of voters undecided among candidates reflecting radically different trends and the novelty of a free vote made the election almost impossible to call.
Egypt's first open leadership contest looks better managed than an earlier parliamentary vote, making it harder to influence the outcome by hustling voters, stuffing ballots and other abuses, an election observer said.
The state election body has toughened oversight of polling stations and improved voting and counting procedures since the legislative vote that ended in January, said election specialist Ossama Kamel, a consultant to several international groups.
"We have seen a lot better control of campaigning on election day than during the parliamentary vote when there were lots of violations," he told Reuters in an interview on the second and final day of first-round voting.
"Vote-buying doesn't happen on the day in the polling station," said Kamel. "It happens in voters' homes or in meeting places like the mosque and you can have no control over this."
He said he was more confident that ballot boxes could not be tampered with this time round, and that polling station workers were better prepared to catch
abuses.
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