Egyptian expats vote in referendum

A broad cross-section of Egyptians living in the Kingdom are casting votes in their country's historic constitutional referendum, which began Wednesday and is scheduled to conclude today.
Large numbers of enthusiastic Egyptians are flocking to the Egyptian Consulate in Jeddah where, after an ID check, they are allowed in to vote. Supporters of President Mohammed Mursi have staked out space near the consulate and are providing voter instruction as well as urging their compatriots to support the draft constitution.
Although it was announced by Egyptian authorities that voting abroad would start Wednesday, contradictory reports lent some confusion to the process. Nevertheless, voting in Saudi Arabia started on that day without incidents. Initial turnout was relatively low with 3,335 votes cast in Jeddah and 2,881 in Riyadh on Wednesday. Turnout surged Thursday, however, and peaked yesterday. Voters started to arrive at 8 a.m. yesterday and there were crowds lined up to vote into the evening.
Many of those waiting to vote were couples who brought their children along, some of whom had "Yes" painted on their cheeks and held small cards showing the Egyptian flag.
Views on the draft constitution were divided. Mohammed Al-Sayeed of the Investor Forum said the majority of Egyptian expatriates support the referendum, but another Egyptian expatriate, Hamdi Amin, maintained that several local voters object to the proposed constitution.
Voting by mail is also possible, and several thousand Egyptians scattered across the western region are mailing their votes for a fee of SR 12.
Saudi Arabia hosts more than 180,000 Egyptian voters, the largest number outside of Egypt. In the country's last presidential election, Mursi captured the majority of votes cast in Saudi Arabia.
According to a report compiled by Egypt's Ministry of Interior, 622,000 Egyptians hold work permits in Saudi Arabia, representing 57 percent of Egyptians living abroad. Remittances home from Egyptians in Saudi Arabia totaled $ 8 billion in 2011, or some 60 percent of all remittances to Egypt from abroad.