98.1% of voters approve Egypt’s new constitution

Egypt's election committee says 98.1% of voters have approved a new, military-backed constitution in the first vote since a coup toppled the country's president.

Egypt's election committee says 98.1% of voters have approved a new, military-backed constitution in the first vote since a coup toppled the country's president.

Egypt's High Election Commission said on Saturday that 38.6% of the country's more than 53 million eligible voters took part in the two-day poll. That's 20.5 million voters casting ballots.

This is the first vote since the military removed Egypt's first freely elected President Mohamed Morsi following massive protests in July. Officials view the vote as key in legitimising the country's military-backed interim government and its plan for Parliamentary and presidential elections.

But Morsi's supporters and his outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group boycotted the vote and have alleged the results were forged. The Brotherhood has vowed to keep up their near-daily protests.