Samar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — A total of 681,346 eligible Egyptian expatriates living in 161 countries, including 312,000 in Saudi Arabia, began voting in a referendum on the country's new constitution on Wednesday. In Jeddah, Egyptian Consul General Adel El-Alfy announced the consulate's procedures and preparations for the five-day exercise at a press conference Tuesday. “All required procedures for voting have been completed. We have brought over additional staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt to support the consulate team here,” said El-Alfy. He hoped that all registered Egyptians would vote. “Our aim is to facilitate the procedures and to ensure the safety and security of the electorate and the consulate team,” he said. El-Alfy said the voters should produce either their original Egyptian ID or the original passport that has the national ID number in addition to the registration number for voting. According to El-Alfy, all security precautions are in place in collaboration with the Saudi authorities. Cameras and mobile phones are not allowed inside the polling station. El-Alfy said the actual voting process would take only a few minutes, as the verification of documents will be done outside the polling station. The consulate expects a large turnout as postal ballot is not allowed. There are over 130,000 Egyptian voters in the consulate's jurisdiction. The consulate will open its gates from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. to give everyone a chance to vote. Counting of votes will begin by the end of the fifth day of voting. The consulate will only process emergency paperwork during the time of the referendum.
