She and the other women in line were convinced the judge running the polling station was deliberately stalling to drive away voters opposed to the document.

So the 39-year-old housewife and dozens of other women launched a protest, blocking the street and chanting against the judge in an upper class district of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city.

"The line was not moving since 8 a.m. I protest. It is now 7 p.m.," an agitated Mustafa said at the time. "He wants us to get bored and leave." After their protest, new officials were brought in to speed up the process.

The scene was a reflection of the deep distrust of Egypt's ruling Islamists and their management of a referendum on a draft constitution that they largely wrote. Questions raised Sunday over the referendum's legitimacy suggest the confrontation between Islamists and their secular, liberal and Christian opponents will not be resolved by the long-awaited vote.