Rights groups said on Monday that the referendum on proposed constitutional amendments proved that no elections in Egypt can be held in one day.

They said there are not enough judges in Egypt to supervise elections in which high voter turnout is expected, given that citizens are now more confident elections will be free and fair and there are some 40 million citizens qualified to vote in elections.

The Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement, for its part, called for a complete revision of the laws regulating elections in Egypt, and for assigning an independent judicial committee that cannot be dissolved to supervise all stages of the elections.

It also said the committee should have an independent budget and a full-time administrative staff.

In related news, the Egyptian National Human Rights Council condemned the assault on presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, who was forcibly prevented from casting his vote in the referendum. It said it considered the act a violation of citizens' civil and political rights.

Translated from the Arabic Edition