enlarge image egypt holds final round of voting mohammed abed afp getty images electoral banners hang in an old market in sharm el sheikh , ahead of the third phase of voting in egypt 's parliamentary elections .
the trial of hosni mubarak is wheeled into a court house in cairo , egypt , monday , jan. 2 , 2012 .
the final stage of the vote , the first since mubarak was ousted in february , covers nine provinces including the north and south sinai governorates .
some estimates indicated that the brotherhood ’s party , freedom and justice , started the day with nearly 50 percent of the seats awarded in the first two rounds of the vote .
islamist groups are expected to consolidate the gains they made in earlier photo advertisement continue reading the main story cairo — the muslim brotherhood worked to stretch its lead tuesday as egyptians returned to the polls in the final phase of the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of former president hosni mubarak and prosecutors asked a court to deliver “ the harshest penalty ” against him .
on trial with mubarak 's comments came in the first of three decades in power to ensure his son would succeed him .
as the polls opened , some analysts suggested that the party founded by the brotherhood , egypt ’s mainstream islamist group and best - organized political force , could come away with a clean majority of the seats in the full parliament instead of the plurality indicated by previous results .
egyptians voted in the third round of parliamentary elections today as prosecutors began their case in the trial of former president hosni mubarak by describing him as a “ tyrant ” responsible for violence and oppression .
enlarge image former egyptian president hosni mubarak afp getty images hosni mubarak , former egyptian president , lies on a stretcher as he leaves court following his trial at police academy , on the outskirts of cairo .