Egypt constitution approved by 98.1 percent

More than 20 million Egyptians voted in this week's referendum on a new constitution, and more than 98 percent of them voted "yes", the High Elections Commission announced on Saturday.

The outcome was never really in doubt: No major political faction was pushing a "no" vote, and many Egyptians saw approving the constitution as a key first step towards restoring stability after the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in July.

Turnout was 38.6 percent of registered voters, less than the 50 percent predicted by some officials earlier this week.

Nabil Salib, the chairman of the commission, called the vote an "unrivalled success" and "an unprecedented turnout".

It was still notably higher than the 2012 referendum on the constitution drafted while Morsi was president. About 17 million people, one-third of registered voters, participated in that ballot, and they approved the charter by a 64 percent margin.

The number of voters also exceeded the 2011 constitutional referendum held a few weeks after longtime leader Hosni Mubarak stepped down. About 18.5 million people voted in that election, a 42 percent turnout; Egypt has added about seven million registered voters in the past three years.

Salib announced the results in a deeply nationalistic speech filled with praise for the army.

"Do not worry about Egypt, it has special standing for God. It is mentioned in the Quran, the Bible, and the Torah," he said.

"Remember the heroes of your army. They have restored hope in our future and protected Egypt."