Egyptians vote on new constitution

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For the second time in 13 months, Egyptians are trying to reshape their country's future by voting on a constitution Tuesday.

It's just the latest twist after three years of political upheaval marked by two presidential departures and hundreds of deaths. And it's the first national vote since the army removed President Mohamed Morsy from power in July.

This time, the proposed constitution would ban religious parties and put more power in the hands of the military. If the draft is passed, elections should follow.

But the two-day referendum has already turned violent.

Marred by violence

Shortly before polls were set to open at 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Tuesday, a bomb exploded near a Cairo courthouse. No one was injured, security officials said.

But the blast was powerful enough to damage much of the towering facade of the courthouse. That building will still be used for collating results but not for counting ballots, Giza Gov. Ali Abdel Rahman said.

Despite the explosion, Egyptians waited in long lines to cast their ballots Tuesday.

"This will not scare us," said Mohamed Moharram, a teacher who lives near the court. "In half an hour I will go to my poll station and cast my ballot."

It wasn't immediately clear who was responsible for the blast.

A deep political divide is still evident between supporters of the interim military government and defenders of Morsy, who was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Protesters near the Cairo court held a poster of Egyptian army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and chanted, "People want the execution of the Muslim Brotherhood" and the "army and people are one hand."

And in the city of Beni Suef, a 25-year-old member of the Muslim Brotherhood was shot and killed during a clash with security forces, state-run media reported. The MENA and EgyNews agencies said the man was trying to storm a polling station.

Earlier Tuesday, the Muslim Brotherhood said peaceful protesters in Beni Suef were chanting "against the referendum of blood."

What's in this draft

Egyptians voted on the last constitution in December 2012 while Morsy, the country's first democratically elected leader, was in power. But that constitution was suspended after the military deposed Morsy in July.

The latest proposal differs from the last constitution in several ways.

Some say the draft constitution would mean improved human rights and freedom of expression. The new version explicitly states women are equal to men, allowing them to hold official and judicial posts, the state-run Ahram news agency said.

The new articles also give parliament the right to impeach the president if he breaches the provisions of the constitution -- a power not found in the 2012 constitution, Ahram said. Other new articles criminalize torture, discrimination and arbitrary forced displacement.

Critics say the latest draft gives too much power to the military without any civilian oversight. For example, the draft gives tremendous leeway to the army to try civilians in military courts -- something many Egyptians have opposed for years.

But a new study suggests Egyptians are more likely to support military rule than people in other Middle Eastern countries. More than seven out of 10 Egyptians say it's good to have have the army rule -- a larger proportion than in Iraq, Lebanon or Pakistan, according to the Middle Eastern Values Study at the University of Michigan.

The research also suggests that while Egypt's support for Islam's Sharia law is declining, 30 percent of Egyptians still back it. The study found that an increasing number of Egyptians want religion and politics kept separate.

What's behind Egypt's turmoil

Morsy's opponents said he was a tyrant trying to impose conservative values, but Morsy's supporters say that the military has now returned to the authoritarian practices of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in a popular uprising in 2011.

Hundreds died in clashes between Egyptian security forces and Morsy supporters in the weeks that followed his ouster. Many in the Muslim Brotherhood hold el-Sisi, as the military chief, responsible for the bloodshed.

In a statement issued amid the crisis, el-Sisi said, "Egypt has room for everybody, and we are keen to save every drop of Egyptian blood." He added, "The Egyptian people are free to choose whoever to govern them, while the armed forces will remain the safeguard of the will of the people and of their choice."

Morsy has been in detention since July and faces charges of inciting the murders of at least three protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012. The protests were over the constitution that Morsy shepherded into effect.