Faces in the crowd in Egypt's election

AAA??May. 23, 2012?2:13 PM ET
Faces in the crowd in Egypt's election
By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press

Abdullah Ali, 82, poses for a portrait after casting his ballot at a polling station Al Saff, Giza Province, Egypt on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. On Wednesday morning, Egypt commenced two days of presidential voting after 16 months of interim rule by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces. This election is the first free and fair presidential race since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

Abdullah Ali, 82, poses for a portrait after casting his ballot at a polling station Al Saff, Giza Province, Egypt on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. On Wednesday morning, Egypt commenced two days of presidential voting after 16 months of interim rule by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces. This election is the first free and fair presidential race since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

Ibrahim Ali, 74, stands outside a polling center in Maadi, a southern suburb of Cario, Egypt on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. "We had the biggest of them all and now we're going to elect a good man," he told the Associated Press. On Wednesday morning, Egypt commenced two days of presidential voting after 16 months of interim rule by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces. This election is the first free and fair race since the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Pete Muller)

An Egyptian voter shows his inked finger after casting his vote in the first day of the presidential election in a polling center in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. More than 15 months after autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak's ouster, Egyptians streamed to polling stations Wednesday to freely choose a president for the first time in generations. Waiting hours in line, some debated to the last minute over their vote in a historic election pitting old regime figures against ascending Islamists. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian voter shows his inked finger after casting his vote in the first day of the presidential election in a polling center in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. More than 15 months after autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak's ouster, Egyptians streamed to polling stations Wednesday to freely choose a president for the first time in generations. Waiting hours in line, some debated to the last minute over their vote in a historic election pitting old regime figures against ascending Islamists. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

An Egyptian elderly man walks after casting his vote votes in the first day of the presidential election in a polling center in Alexandria, Egypt, Wednesday, May 23, 2012. More than 15 months after autocratic leader Hosni Mubarak's ouster, Egyptians streamed to polling stations Wednesday to freely choose a president for the first time in generations. Waiting hours in line, some debated to the last minute over their vote in a historic election pitting old regime figures against ascending Islamists.(AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian voters of many ages, occupations and beliefs stood in line for hours Wednesday to cast their ballots for a new president. The winner would replace Hosni Mubarak, deposed in a popular uprising last year. He was voted in several times, but those elections were generally regarded as blatantly rigged, and turnout was low.

The people waiting patiently on a hot day to vote for a new leader appeared mesmerized by the prospect of a real election, the first free ballot for president in the Arab world. The main candidates among the 13 running for office were Islamists or representatives of the old guard ? officials who served in Mubarak's government at one time or another.

Absent were prominent candidates representing the young, secular liberals who led last year's uprising, and some voters expressed disappointment over that.

Associated Press

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