By Aya Batrawy
Associated Press
CAIRO: Islamists and liberals have accused election officials of filling out ballot forms for elderly or confused voters at some polling stations during the second round of Egypt's parliamentary elections. If confirmed as a pattern, the reports could chip away at the credibility of what has so far been the freest and fairest vote in the country's' modern history.

Under Hosni Mubarak's 30-year regime, elections were systemically rigged and the corruption was a major impetus behind the popular uprising that ousted the authoritarian leader in February. But as the polls closed, it was still unclear how widespread the problems were.

The head of the election commission, Abdel-Moez Ibrahim, described the allegations of wrongdoing on Thursday as "a strong wave of rumors, which aimed at driving wedge between the judges and the people." He said he investigated some incidents and found out that judges overseeing the voting were helping disabled, illiterate voters. But because of the accusations, judges now tell voters asking for help that this is not their role.

"If people lose confidence in their judges, this will lead to a state collapse," he said.
It was difficult to say how widespread any abuses or irregularities were, but more allegations surfaced in this round than in the previous one in November as competition heats up.

Casting his vote for the first time in his life, 68-year-old reform leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei responded to fears of a parliament dominated by Islamists by saying that a new constitution might also mean new elections.
"This is the first step toward democracy," he said. Commenting on alleged violations, he said: "This is nothing compared to before."

The second round of voting in nine of the country's 27 provinces covered vast rural areas where the two Islamist blocs that dominated in the first round look poised to cement and probably even bolster their already overwhelming majority.

These elections are the first test of the strength of political forces that have emerged in the 10 months since the uprising. The political forces are roughly divided into two camps - the Islamists on one side and on the other, secular and liberal groups that largely drove the uprising but failed to turn their achievement into a victory at the polls.

The crux of power in Egypt remains in the hands of the ruling military council that took power from Mubarak. It is the ultimate authority on all matters of state in absence of a president.

The most immediate concern for the liberal and secular groups is the drafting of the country's new constitution. The new parliament will be in charge of picking the 100-member constituent assembly to draft the constitution and many fear an Islamist-dominated parliament may lead to a document guided by strict religious principles.

The two leading Islamist alliances - the front-running Muslim Brotherhood and second-place Al-Nour representing ultraconservative Salafi Muslims - won close to 70 percent of seats in the first round on Nov. 28-29, according to an AP tally compiled from official results.

This round and a third and final vote in January are expected to solidify those gains because they are concentrated in rural areas that are traditionally more conservative.
The biggest surprise of the first round of voting was the strength of the Salafis, with their Al-Nour alliance winning a fifth of all seats contested. The Salafis want to strictly impose Islamic law, or Shariah, and have been railing against tourists drinking alcohol or wearing skimpy bathing suits at beach resorts.

"Al-Nour will sweep the vote here for sure," said Ali Abdel-Ghaffar, a Salafi party member standing inside a polling center in Giza province on the western outskirts of Cairo illegally campaigning. "People are Salafi (puritans) by nature. For them even sitting in a coffee shop is improper," he said.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and an alliance of liberal youth parties have filed complaints, saying officials at several stations were telling voters whom to choose.

The party issued a report Thursday accusing supervising judges in the province of Beheira, 112 miles (180 kilometers) north of Cairo, of guiding voters to choose Al-Nour, the Brotherhood's key Islamist rival.

In another polling center, two judges, a school administrator and a village mayor filled in ballots for candidates who were members of Mubarak's dissolved ruling party and are now running as independents or members of new parties, the Brotherhood said.
At one station near Cairo, a liberal party representative accused volunteers of paying voters to choose Islamist candidates, and complained to the military officer guarding the station.

Competition between Islamist parties was fierce. Hundreds of voters in a Salafi stronghold rushed to a polling station in Al-Haram district, near the Giza Pyramids, demanding their right to vote even after the polls closed. The angry voters besieged the polling station for more than two hours, refusing to go or let the ballot boxes be transported to counting station.

"We are afraid they would storm the place and sabotage the ballot boxes," said Lobna el-Feeky, a liberal party representative locked inside the station. Security officers were unable to disperse the crowd.

Judge Ahmed Helal, who was monitoring a polling station in Shebein el-Kom in Menoufia province, said it was his legal duty to assist people who cannot mark ballots on their own. According to an official Cabinet report in June, nearly 27 percent of the 85 million Egyptians are illiterate.
"It's the law that we have to help the voter to vote in case they are incapable or cannot see," he said.