Egypt voters endure long lines at polls

[ellisonz]

People line up at a polling station for parliamentary elections in Cairo. (Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters / November 28, 2011)

Delays are met with determination as Egyptians vote in the first free elections since President Hosni Mubarak's fall. The vote pits Islamists against secularists.

By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times
November 28, 2011, 4:35 p.m.
Reporting from Cairo—

Hanan Milad, a house painter's wife with two children and one on the way, stood outside a polling station Monday, biting her lip and praying for patience as crowds swelled and ballots arrived late in Egypt's first free elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

"I can't wait all day to vote," Milad said as soldiers stood guard at the edge of a cement factory. "But I'm here because I want a future for my children. The revolution inspired us. You can see people are poor here. We don't know a lot about politics, but we have hope."

Scattered delays were met with determination as Egyptians, despite recent deadly protests and uncertainty about the nation's fate, rekindled the spirit that propelled their historic rebellion 10 months ago. They complained but they also laughed, enduring long lines to cast ballots in an electoral battle between Islamists and secularists certain to set the tone for emerging democracies across the region.

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There was a feeling of change, from the city's dusty southern fringes to its wealthy neighborhoods of cafes and computer boutiques. The religiously devout stood in line alongside the boisterously liberal as politics — despite campaign literature swirling through the streets — wasn't so much discussed as were the remembrances and pride of those winter days when their once-untouchable leader tumbled.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-elections-20111129,0,2813603.story

Anyone see reports of violence today?