Egypt Live Blog

Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports from Cairo that while authorities acknowledged Some infringements and breaches of campaigning ban, the widespread perception of the first day of voting was that "things actually went better than predicted."

Authorities vowed that on Tuesday, "polling stations will be kept open until every last person has voted."

While voting on Monday was due to close at 7:00 GMT, some polling booths remained open later, according to Egyptians on Twitter:

The stakes could not be higher for Egypt, the cultural leader of the Arab world but the conduct and results of the election will also have repercussions for the entire Middle East at a time of wrenching change.

Bruce Rutherford, a Middle East specialist and author on Egypt at the US-based Colgate University:

For most Arabs, the primary examples of democratic processes in the Arab world are in Iraq and Lebanon.

In both cases, elections produced weak, fragmented, and largely ineffectual governments.

If Egypt produces the same result, then the appeal of democracy in the region may be weakened.

However, if the Egyptian experience is positive ... the effect could be very powerful."