Voters line up to enter a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 20, 2019. Egyptians are voting on constitutional amendments that would allow el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Voters line up to enter a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, April 20, 2019. Egyptians are voting on constitutional amendments that would allow el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians cast their ballots Saturday on the first of three days of voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military’s role.

Critics have blasted the proposed changes as another major step toward an authoritarian government perhaps even more severe than that of former President Hosni Mubarak, whose nearly three decades of autocratic rule was ended by a popular uprising in 2011.

The nationwide referendum came amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in recent years. El-Sissi’s government has arrested thousands of people, most of them Islamists but also prominent secular activists, and rolled back freedoms won eight years ago.

Polls closed at 9 p.m. local time. Voting will stretch over a period of three days to allow maximum turnout, which the government is hoping to lend the referendum legitimacy.

Mahmoud el-Sherif, spokesman of the National Elections Authority, said more than 61 million people are eligible to vote. Results were expected within a week, el-Sherif said in a news conference.

Outside a polling center near the Giza Pyramids, around two dozen people, mostly elderly women, lined up waiting to cast their votes. Heavy police and army security was reported at polling stations throughout the country.

Haja Khadija, a 63-year-old housewife, said she came for the “security and stability” of the country. “We love el-Sissi. He did lots of things. He raised our pensions.”

Omar Knawy, who writes novels, voted “No” in the referendum. He said he opposes most of the changes, especially those that would enable el-Sissi to stay in power beyond his current second four-year term. He also opposes articles that declare the military the “guardian and protector” of the Egyptian state, democracy and the constitution.

Casting his ballot on Saturday, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly urged voters to turn out in high numbers. He said that voting will reflect “the atmosphere of stability and democracy that we are witnessing now.”

State-run TV said el-Sissi voted in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, near the presidential palace. El-Sissi, who has repeatedly said he won’t stay in office any longer than the people want him to, hasn’t commented on the amendments.

Opposition voices have largely been shut out amid the rush to hold the referendum. Pro-government media have led a campaign for weeks calling a “Yes” vote a patriotic duty.

Since early April, the Egyptian capital has been awash with large posters and banners encouraging people to vote in favor of the changes. Most of the posters were apparently funded by pro-government parties, businessmen and lawmakers.

Parliament, packed with el-Sissi supporters, overwhelmingly approved the amendments on Tuesday, with only 22 no votes and one abstention from 554 lawmakers in attendance. The national electoral commission announced the following day that voting would begin on Saturday.

The proposed changes are seen by critics as another step toward authoritarianism. The referendum comes eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s three-decade rule, and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country’s first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Two international advocacy groups — Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists — on Saturday urged the Egyptian government to withdraw the amendments.

“Egypt’s autocracy is shifting into overdrive to re-establish the ‘President-for-Life’ model, beloved by dictators in the region and despised by their citizens,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “But it’s a model that recent experience in Egypt and neighboring countries has demonstrated is not built to last.”

The Civil Democratic Movement, a coalition of liberal and left-leaning parties, urged people to participate in the referendum by voting “No.”

The coalition said it used social media to spread its message, noting that it was banned from hanging banners in the streets to call on voters to reject the amendments.

The amendments extend a president’s term in office from four to six years and allow for a maximum of two terms. But they also include an article specific to el-Sissi that extends his current second four-year term to six years and allows him to run for another six-year term in 2024 — potentially extending his rule until 2030.

El-Sissi was elected president in 2014, and re-elected last year after all potentially serious challengers were either jailed or pressured to exit the race.

The amendments also allow the president to appoint top judges, while also granting military courts wider jurisdiction in trying civilians.

In the last three years, over 15,000 civilians, including children, have been referred to military prosecution in Egypt, according to Human Rights Watch.

The amendments also introduce one or more vice presidents, revive the senate and enshrine a 25% quota for women in parliament’s lower, legislative chamber. All three had been dropped from Egypt’s constitution after the 2011 revolution.</s>CAIRO (AP) - Egypt's state news agency says expats have started voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.

MENA reported that Egyptians living abroad lined up outside their country's diplomatic missions to vote on Friday, a day before the referendum starts in Egypt. The voting is to last three days, to maximize turnout.

The changes to the constitution are seen by critics as another step back toward authoritarianism, eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country's first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Since el-Sissi took office, his government has overseen an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

The opposition has urged Egyptians to vote "No."

People walk past a banner supporting proposed amendments to the Egyptian constitution with a poster of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Egypt's parliament was holding its last debate Tuesday on proposed amendments to the constitution that could see President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi remain in power until 2030. Arabic reads, "do the right thing, yes to the developments, stability and amendments to the the constitution".(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)</s>Expats vote on giving Egypt president 8 more years in power

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's state news agency says expats have started voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.

MENA reported that Egyptians living abroad lined up outside their country's diplomatic missions to vote on Friday, a day before the referendum starts in Egypt. The voting is to last three days, to maximize turnout.

The changes to the constitution are seen by critics as another step back toward authoritarianism, eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country's first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Since el-Sissi took office, his government has overseen an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

The opposition has urged Egyptians to vote "No."</s>CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s state news agency says expats have started voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030. MENA reported that Egyptians living abroad lined up…

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s state news agency says expats have started voting on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.

MENA reported that Egyptians living abroad lined up outside their country’s diplomatic missions to vote on Friday, a day before the referendum starts in Egypt. The voting is to last three days, to maximize turnout.

The changes to the constitution are seen by critics as another step back toward authoritarianism, eight years after a pro-democracy uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule and nearly six years after el-Sissi led a popular military overthrow of the country’s first freely elected but divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.

Since el-Sissi took office, his government has overseen an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

The opposition has urged Egyptians to vote “No.”

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians vote this weekend on constitutional changes that will potentially allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 and bolster the role of Egypt’s powerful military.

Sisi’s supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms. Critics say they concentrate more powers in Sisi’s hands and return Egypt to an unequivocally authoritarian model.

Egypt’s 596-member parliament, dominated by Sisi’s supporters, approved the amendments on Tuesday, voting by 531 to 22 in favor.

Some 55 million of Egypt’s nearly 100 million population are eligible to cast votes in the referendum, which will be held over three days starting on Saturday.

While the changes are widely expected to pass, observers say the size of the turnout will be watched as a test of Sisi’s popularity, which has been dented by economic austerity measures since 2016.

Opponents of the changes complained that they were being rushed through without proper public scrutiny.

“They are not giving us time to even organize a campaign to ask people to vote no,” said Khaled Dawoud, a member of the opposition Civil Democratic Movement, which has rejected the changes.

“This is the final deathblow after all the ambitions we had after the 2011 revolution,” said Dawoud, referring to the uprising that ousted veteran leader Hosni Mubarak. Dawoud said campaigning would take place online due to the lack of time.

Egyptian officials have said that Egyptians from all walks of life were given a chance to debate the amendments, and that all views were factored into the final proposals.

If approved, the amendments would extend Sisi’s current term to six years from four and allow him to run again for a third six-year term in 2024.

They would also grant the president control over appointing head judges and the public prosecutor from a pool of candidates. They would task the military with protecting “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature”.

Banners urging Egyptians to participate in the referendum sprang up in Cairo this month before the final version of the amendments was known or voted on by parliament. Some of the signs encourage people to vote yes.

“Vote? Vote for what?” asked a horse carriage driver sitting at a cafe in a working class Cairo neighborhood.

“It won’t make a difference,” said the 67-year-old, who declined to give his name. “Leave it to God.”

Sisi came to power after spearheading, as defense minister, the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi as president in 2013, and winning election a year later. He was elected to a second four-year term last year.

Under Sisi, Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on dissent that rights groups say is unprecedented in its recent history. Media and social media are tightly controlled.

Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the amendments “pave the way for a power grab” by Sisi.

“This has grave implications for prospects of democracy in Egypt in the medium term and makes it difficult for alternative political voices to contest power in the long term,” she said in an emailed comment to Reuters.</s>CAIRO, April 20 (Reuters) - Egyptians began voting on Saturday on constitutional changes that will potentially allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 and bolster the role of Egypt's powerful military.

Sisi's supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms. Critics say they concentrate more powers in Sisi's hands and return Egypt to an authoritarian model.

While the changes are widely expected to pass, observers say the size of the turnout will be watched as a test of Sisi's popularity, which has been dented by economic austerity measures since 2016.

If approved, the amendments would extend Sisi's current term to six years from four and allow him to run again for a third six-year term in 2024.

They would also grant the president control over appointing head judges and the public prosecutor from a pool of candidates. They would task the military with protecting "the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature".

Taxi driver Essam backs the changes. "The country needs to be rebuilt. This referendum will give Sisi a chance to fix things," said the 61-year-old, who did not give his family name.

Opponents say the changes are being rushed through without proper public scrutiny. Officials say Egyptians from all walks of life were given a chance to debate the amendments, and that all views were factored into the final proposals.

"They are not giving us time to even organise a campaign to ask people to vote no," said Khaled Dawoud, a member of the opposition Civil Democratic Movement.

"This is the final deathblow after all the ambitions we had after the 2011 revolution," said Dawoud, referring to the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak after 30 years.

Sisi came to power after spearheading, as defence minister, the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Mursi as president in 2013 in the turbulent years after the uprising.

He was elected as president a year later and won a second four-year term last year.

Under Sisi, Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on dissent that rights groups say is unprecedented in its recent history. Media and social media are tightly controlled.

Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the amendments "pave the way for a power grab" by Sisi.

"This has grave implications for prospects of democracy in Egypt in the medium term and makes it difficult for alternative political voices to contest power in the long term," she said.

Egypt's 596-member parliament, dominated by Sisi's supporters, approved the amendments on Tuesday, voting by 531 to 22 in favour.

Some 55 million of Egypt's nearly 100 million population are eligible to vote in the referendum, which will be held over three days. The result is expected in the days after Monday's final day of voting.

Sisi cast his ballot at a voting station in Cairo's eastern suburb of Heliopolis after polls opened at 0700 GMT.

But despite banners urging Egyptians to participate in the referendum springing up in Cairo this month before the final version of the amendments was known or voted on by parliament, some people did not see the point.

"Vote? Vote for what?" asked a horse carriage driver sitting at a cafe in a working class Cairo neighbourhood.

"It won't make a difference," said the 67-year-old, who declined to give his name. "Leave it to God."</s>CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians began voting on Saturday in a three-day referendum on constitutional changes that could allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 and bolster the role of the powerful military.

Sisi’s supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms. Critics say they concentrate more power in Sisi’s hands and return Egypt to an authoritarian model.

While the changes are expected to pass, observers say the turnout will be a test of Sisi’s popularity, which has been dented by austerity measures since 2016. He was re-elected last year with 97 percent of the votes, on 41 percent turnout.

A double-decker bus blasting patriotic music circled around polling stations close to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 2011 uprising that ended former President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

In the first hours of voting, people carrying flags and wearing T-shirts that said “do the right thing” - the slogan plastered on thousands of posters across the capital ahead of the vote - thronged round polling stations.

They declined to comment on who had provided their campaign materials.

If approved, the amendments would extend Sisi’s current term to six years from four and allow him to run again for a third six-year term in 2024.

They would also grant the president control over appointing head judges and the public prosecutor from a pool of candidates. They would task the military with protecting “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature”.

“I believe that everything the president has done was for the good of the country, and I believe that we want the march to continue,” Mona Quarashi, head of a local development NGO, said before she voted in downtown Cairo.

Tarek Badawi, a 40-year-old community organizer in the working class Shubra neighborhood said he wanted to study the amendments before casting his ballot.

“There are some things I don’t understand and I plan to sit with a relative today so he can explain them to me,” Badawi told Reuters. “I’m not going to vote yes or no without understanding what’s going on.”

Opponents say the changes are being rushed through without proper public scrutiny. Officials say Egyptians from all walks of life were given a chance to debate the amendments, and that all views were factored into the final proposals.

“This is the final deathblow after all the ambitions we had after the 2011 revolution,” said Khaled Dawoud, a member of the opposition Civil Democratic Movement.

Sisi came to power after spearheading, as defense minister, the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi as president in 2013. He was elected as president a year later and won the second four-year term last year.

Under Sisi, Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on dissent that rights groups say is unprecedented in its recent history. Media and social media are tightly controlled.

Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the amendments “pave the way for a power grab” by Sisi.

“This has grave implications for prospects of democracy in Egypt in the medium term and makes it difficult for alternative political voices to contest power in the long term,” she said.

Egypt’s 596-member parliament, dominated by Sisi’s supporters, approved the amendments on Tuesday, voting by 531 to 22 in favor.

Some 61 million of Egypt’s nearly 100 million population are eligible to vote. The result is expected in the days after Monday’s final day of voting.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voted on Saturday in a three-day referendum on constitutional changes that could allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to stay in office until 2030 and boost the role of the powerful military.

Sisi’s supporters say the changes are necessary to give him more time to complete major development projects and economic reforms. Critics say they concentrate more power in Sisi’s hands and return Egypt to an authoritarian model.

While the changes are expected to pass, observers say the turnout will be a test of Sisi’s popularity, which has been dented by austerity measures since 2016. He was re-elected last year with 97 percent of the votes, on 41 percent turnout.

The country’s small but vocal opposition called on supporters to vote against the changes instead of boycotting the polls like they did in the presidential election.

Former presidential candidates Hamdeen Sabahy and Khaled Ali both posted photos of themselves with ballot papers marked No.

People carrying flags and wearing T-shirts saying “do the right thing” - the slogan plastered on thousands of posters across the capital ahead of the referendum - meanwhile campaigned for a Yes vote.

A double-decker bus blasting patriotic music circled around polling stations close to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the 2011 uprising that ended former President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

“I believe that everything the president has done was for the good of the country, and I believe that we want the march to continue,” Mona Quarashi, head of a local development NGO, said before she voted in downtown Cairo.

But a hairdresser in a Cairo suburb said he did not vote.

“I cannot participate in a farce like this,” said Zaki Mohamed, 45. “Does it makes sense to have a referendum on articles in the constitution without studying these articles and for whose interest? We have gone many years back, back to the authority of the individual.”

If approved, the amendments would extend Sisi’s current term to six years from four and allow him to run again for a third six-year term in 2024.

They would also grant the president control over appointing head judges and the public prosecutor from a pool of candidates. They would task the military with protecting “the constitution and democracy and the fundamental makeup of the country and its civil nature”.

Opponents say the changes are being rushed through without proper public scrutiny. Officials say Egyptians from all walks of life were given a chance to debate the amendments, and that all views were factored into the final proposals.

“This is the final deathblow after all the ambitions we had after the 2011 revolution,” said Khaled Dawoud, a member of the opposition Civil Democratic Movement.

Sisi came to power after spearheading, as defence minister, the removal of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Mursi as president in 2013. He was elected as president a year later and won the second four-year term last year.

Under Sisi, Egypt has witnessed a crackdown on dissent that rights groups say is unprecedented in its recent history. Media and social media are tightly controlled.

Lina Khatib, head of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the amendments “pave the way for a power grab” by Sisi.

“This has grave implications for prospects of democracy in Egypt in the medium term and makes it difficult for alternative political voices to contest power in the long term,” she said.

Egypt’s 596-member parliament, dominated by Sisi’s supporters, approved the amendments on Tuesday, voting by 531 to 22 in favour.

Some 61 million of Egypt’s nearly 100 million population are eligible to vote. The result is expected in the days after Monday’s final day of voting. Polls are due to close on Saturday at 1900 GMT.</s>CAIRO (AP) - The Latest on Egypt's vote on a referendum potentially extending President el-Sissi's rule to 2030 (all times local):

Egyptians have begun voting on constitutional amendments aimed at keeping President el-Sissi in power until 2030.

The referendum comes amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent in recent years. El-Sissi's government has arrested thousands of people, most of them Islamists but also prominent secular activists, and rolled back freedoms won in a 2011 pro-democracy uprising.

The proposed changes were blasted by critics as another major step toward authoritarian rule.

People walk past a banner supporting proposed amendments to the Egyptian constitution with a poster of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, April 16, 2019. Egypt's parliament was holding its last debate Tuesday on proposed amendments to the constitution that could see President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi remain in power until 2030. Arabic reads, "do the right thing, yes to the developments, stability and amendments to the the constitution".(AP Photo/Amr Nabil)

Egyptians are being asked to vote on constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030.

The three-day voting period for the nationwide referendum starts at 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) Saturday on proposed changes that would also further enshrine the military's role in politics. Parliament, packed with el-Sissi supporters, overwhelmingly approved the amendments on Tuesday.

Opposition parties have called on voters to reject the changes, seen by critics as a step backward to authoritarianism eight years after a pro-democracy uprising.

The vote comes amid an unprecedented crackdown by authorities on dissent since the military ouster of an elected but divisive president in 2013.

El-Sissi came to power in 2014 and was re-elected for a second four-year term last year.</s>Egyptians begin voting on constitutional amendments aimed at keeping President el-Sissi in power until 2030

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians begin voting on constitutional amendments aimed at keeping President el-Sissi in power until 2030 .
Egyptians vote on a number of amendments to the Constitution of Egypt, which, among other things, allow President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to remain in power until 2030, increase the president's powers over Egypt's judiciary, and increase the power of Egypt's military over all other state institutions. The vote takes place over three days from 20 to 22 April.