Carter Center sends experts to Egypt ahead of referendum

The Carter Center has deployed a team of electoral experts to assess Egypt's constitution-building process, according to a statement released Friday.

While it will not monitor the referendum voting process, electoral experts were sent to Egypt to assess the ongoing legal and political context ahead of the upcoming polls.

"The mission is limited in scope, and the Center will not deploy witnesses to assess the referendum voting days," the statement said.

"The mission will examine key issues including the political developments that led to the demand for constitutional change, the work and inclusiveness of the bodies tasked with amending the 2012 Constitution, the content of the draft constitution, the legal framework for elections and the post-referendum environment."

The committee of 50 tasked with drafting a new constitution has completed its mission, and sent a copy of the finished document to Interim President Adly Mansour. He is expected to announce a date for the referendum on the constitution on Saturday.

Voting is expected to take place in mid-January.

The Carter Center said its mission has been approved by the High Elections Commission. It has been one of the main monitors of Egypt's elections since the 2011 uprising.

However, the center did not monitor the December 2013 constitutional referendum held after a rushed and polarizing drafting process under ousted President Mohamed Morsi. The move was seen as further undermining the legitimacy of the document, passed amid escalating unrest between Morsi’s supporters and opponents.

In the past three years, Egyptians have been sent to the ballot boxes for two referendums, elections and runoffs for the People's Assembly and Shura Council, and finally for the presidential election and runoff, which brought Morsi to power.