Sep. 7, 2005 2:24 | Updated Sep. 7, 2005 6:30 Monitors banned as Egypt votes By ORLY HALPERN CAIRO
When 9,000 polling stations open their doors at 8 a.m. Wednesday there will be something before never seen in the Egypt's history: a ballot containing more than one name. A remarkable decision in February by President Hosni Mubarak paved the way for nine candidates to run against him for the leadership of Egypt.
But what will be missing are independent monitors. Following a court battle between non-governmental monitoring organizations and the government-appointed election commission, a decision was made by the Supreme Administrative Court Tuesday not to allow observers to enter polling stations.
The opposition parties and the monitoring organizations, such as the National Campaign for Monitoring Elections, which took the issue to court, and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) expressed great disappointment over the decision.
Hafez Abu Seada, secretary-general of EOHR, said that giving the election commission so much power "will put a question mark on the election."
Mubarak has led the country for 24 years and is expected to win another six-year term regardless of any illegal ballot-box stuffing or double-voting.
Most Egyptians are afraid to elect someone unfamiliar to them. Many feel apathetic and won't bother to vote. Nevertheless, the key to the elections is not who wins but how many of the 32 million eligible voters actually show up. The turnout will be the true test of Mubarak's popularity.
"Turnout is the only thing that matters," Mona Makram-Ebeid, the secretary-general of El Ghad, a political party, told The Jerusalem Post.
One group remained unfazed by the decision and will be out in full force, looking for and recording any polling violations.
"We have more than 500 volunteers whom we have prepared with violation checklists, stickers and posters, and we will be inside polling stations," said Ghada Shahbender, one of the 12 founding members of Shayfeencom, a movement campaigning for popular monitoring.
Shayfeencom, which means "we see you – com," is a grassroots movement not an official organization, which puts it outside the court ruling.
Although established only three months ago, the founders used a combination of hi-tech and connections in the close-knit Arab society to spread the word about their movement and gain volunteers.
"The very first day we got together, we all sent hundreds of SMSs to everyone we knew," said Shahbender, 43, a mother of four and teacher of English as a foreign language. "We used technology and our network of family, friends and colleagues to spread the word."
The group began from scratch.
"In the beginning we funded everything from our own pocket, but quickly we got support from people who believed in us," she said.
A print shop produced the stickers and posters for free. A group of artists volunteered to do the logo, and a bunch of IT experts set up the Web site in their free time: www.shayfeen.com.
Volunteers can join through the Web site from which they can download the violation checklists.
The Egyptian media has given Shayfeencom extensive coverage, which has also increased the number of volunteers. Following a Monday night interview on a popular show, the number of volunteers increased from 425 to more than 500.
Despite the predictable outcome, Shahbender is electrified by the election.
"This is a novel experience, and all of us are learning from it: the politicians, the parties and the voters," she said.
