Egyptians vote in historic election 16 months after uprising

Egyptians vote in a historic presidential election on Wednesday, an epic victory for those who worked to overthrow Egypt’s longtime leader Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago. About a dozen candidates are running in the race, which is considered Egypt’s first free and fair presidential election in modern history. “I am here to vote for the first time in my life,” said 70-year-old Nadia Fahmy, who waited outside a Cairo polling station for hours in the hopes of voting before anyone else. “I want to vote for the first time. I want to see a new generation for my country. I want everything to change.”

The votes come nearly 16 months after the uprising that put Mubarak out of office in February 2011. The voting began on Wednesday and is expected to continue through Thursday. Among the candidates running for office are Mohamed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, Amre Moussa, who served as foreign minister under Mubarak and headed the Arab League, Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh, a moderate Islamist running as a respected independent, Ahmed Shafik, who was Mubarak’s last prime minister, and Hamdeen Sabahy, a leftist dark-horse contender. If any candidate falls short of more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be held in mid-June. Egypt’s military rulers have vowed to bestow executive power to a civilian government by the end of next month.