249 arrested on first day of referendum

Voters went to the polling stations on Wednesday for the second day of voting amid tight security measures.

Two-hundred and forty-nine people were arrested on Tuesday, the first day of the constitutional referendum. According to the Ministry of Interior, all of those arrested were “members of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

The ministry released a statement on its official Facebook page late Tuesday, saying that the joint police and military forces “succeeded to effectively carry on its duty to protect the polling stations, the citizens and public buildings and dealt with all attempts to break the law or influence voters.”

In Minya, 61 people were arrested on Tuesday and referred for prosecution on Wednesday. They were accused of committing acts of violence and attempting to influence voters, the Ministry of Interior said.

In the latest of several security threats that marred the referendum, police forces deactivated a can filled with explosives. The homemade bomb was reportedly spotted by a voter in a polling station in Bulaq al-Dakrour in Giza.

Large numbers of police and military forces were deployed around the country on Tuesday, introducing a level of security beyond that seen in any other elections held in the past three years.

As a result of the increased security measures, the cost of the referendum is expected to exceed those of 2011 and 2012. Costs for the 2014 referendum were expected to reach between LE1 billion and LE1.2 billion, a Ministry of Finance official told the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper Tuesday.

In addition to the forces deployed at every polling station, helicopters hovered over parts of Egypt throughout the day and military tanks, fire-fighting trucks, ambulances and police forces were also present out in the streets.

In some polling stations, soldiers were positioned behind protective barricades of sand bags. Also, at some polling stations some locations, a soldier armed with a rifle and with his face covered was seen atop the polling stations with a rifle.

The governor of Giza told the Middle East News Agency on Wednesday that additional forces were to be deployed in the governorate to continue the securing of the referendum on its second day.

Violent clashes erupted in Nahia in Giza on Tuesday causing three deaths.
Al Ahram reports that security forces arrived in Nahya in Giza on Wednesday morning in anticipation of the funeral procession of the Muslim Brotherhood victims of yesterday’s violence.

The ministry also reported on Wednesday the arrest of a Brotherhood supporter in Qena for allegedly attempting to pay people to stop them from voting. However, there were no similar measures taken against “yes” campaigners spotted in many spots around Egypt.

The official spokesperson of the Armed Forces also posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday that the security forces were able to restore normal voting despite violent incidents in Giza, Beni Soueif, Sohag and Kerdasa.

The Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that 11 people died on the first day of voting, five of which were in violent incidents.

Prior to the referendum, the Armed Forces announced that 160,000 members of the military would assist the Ministry of Interior in the securing of the referendum.