{{Egyptians are voting Saturday on a proposed constitution that has polarized their nation, with President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist supporters backing the charter, while liberals, secular Muslims and Christians oppose it.}}
With the nation divided by a political crisis defined by mass protests and deadly violence, the vote has turned into a dispute over whether Egypt should move toward a religious state under Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and an ultraconservative Salafi bloc, or one that retains secular traditions and an Islamic character.
“The times of silence are over,” said bank employee Essam el-Guindy as he waited to cast his ballot in Cairo’s upscale Zamalek district. “I am not OK with the constitution. Morsi should not have let the country split like this.”
El-Guindy was one of about 20 standing in a line for men waiting to vote. A separate women’s line had twice as many people.
Elsewhere in Cairo, hundreds of voters began queuing outside polling stations nearly two hours before the voting started at 8 a.m.
“I read parts of the constitution and saw no reason to vote against it,” said Rania Wafik as she held her newborn baby while waiting in line. “We need to move on and I just see no reason to vote against the constitution.”
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