29 November 2011 Last updated at 15:00 GMT
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Jon Leyne says it is a case of “so far, so good” in Egypt’s landmark elections
A second day of voting is taking place in Egypt in the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown, with indications of a high turnout in Cairo and other big cities.
Many protesters occupying Cairo’s Tahrir Square have boycotted the vote.
The elections for a new parliament have been mainly peaceful so far.
General Ismail Atman, a member of the ruling council of army generals, told al-Jazeera TV that he expected turnout in this phase of voting to exceed 70%.
The BBC’s Kevin Connolly in Cairo says most parties seem to agree that Egypt is on course for a record turnout.
This is an indication, our correspondent says, of the pent-up appetite for democracy – allowed free expression at last.
There had been fears the vote might be delayed after last week saw deadly protests against the interim military rulers who replaced Mr Mubarak.
The protesters fear the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, which is overseeing the transition to democracy after decades of authoritarian rule, is trying to retain power.
At least 41 demonstrators have been killed and more than 2,000 wounded in the past 10 days, as tensions have flared in the Arab world’s most populous state.
Free expression
Monday saw long queues form outside polling stations in Cairo before the polls opened and in places queues were said to have stretched up to 3km (two miles).
“After suffering from an inner conflict as to whether to vote or not, I decided to vote today, although I know that the military wants to retain power and parliament will have limited powers,” said one voter, Ahmed Raafat, on Tuesday.
There had been some delays in opening polling stations on Tuesday, said Abdel Moez Ibrahim, the head of the High Judicial Elections Commission (HJEC).
But Mr Ibrahim stressed that voting would be extended “until the last voter” had cast their vote.
Officials blamed a delay to the voting in some Cairo constituencies on the first day of voting on the late arrival of ballot papers and a shortage of ink and administrative officers.
State-run TV reported on Monday that 25 people were injured in election-related violence, but monitors have not reported any major violence or irregularities.
Violations reported
Some have expressed concern that party activists have not respected the rules on campaigning, and handed out leaflets close to polling stations.
There have also been reports that in Cairo and Port Said, candidates’ numbers on voting cards had been changed.
Voters in nine provinces, including Cairo, Port Said, Alexandria and Assiut are voting in the first stage of a process extending until March.
Other provinces take their turns through December and early January for elections to the 508-member People’s Assembly.
Voting for the upper house, or Shura Assembly, of parliament takes place after that and the presidential election is supposed to be held by mid-2012.
About 50 million people are eligible to vote out of a population in excess of 85 million – with candidates from 50 registered political parties.
The new parliament is expected to have a strong Islamist bloc led by the Muslim Brotherhood, liberal groupings and some reconditioned elements of Hosni Mubarak’s old party.
Much remains unclear about how the new parliament will function and whether it will be able to resolve a standoff with the armed forces over how much power they will retain under a new constitution to be written next year.
Official results from the first phase of voting should be announced on Wednesday, but the final make-up of the lower and upper house of parliament will not be clear until March.
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