Egypt—3 percent democracy

That's the turnout for Egypt's local elections on Tuesday, says a ISA Consulting:

Observer groups estimated that less than 3 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, reflecting widespread popular apathy and antipathy amidst a deepening socio-economic crisis and an ongoing crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood [opposition] and other government opponents.

The current municipal elections were delayed by two years as the NDP struggled to formulate a response to the shock election performance of the Brotherhood in the 2005 People's Assembly elections, in which the Islamic movement snared 88 seats in the 454-seat lower house.

Hundreds of Brotherhood members have been rounded up in police raids in recent weeks in a crackdown that has both mirrored and exceeded similar waves of detentions prior to previous polls.

They have been joined in prison by political bloggers and other prominent opponents of the government.