But for the majority of Afghans, the act of voting was filled with hope and pride.
And the vote was filled with reports of irregularities and concerns about repeated delays in announcing the results.
The weeks leading up to the vote were filled with feverish lobbying by teachers' unions, and by the city and charter school advocates, backed by wealthy hedge fund managers, on the other side.
The rest of the time before the Commons vote is filled with themed days, including a UK-wide sales pitch, which would see May visit "the north and/or Scotland", and another day devoted to the economy.
-When democracy rules, as in Reddit and Digg, (where all content is ranked by vote), viewers minds' are filled with international news, heavily biased social commentary (feminist, pro-gay marriage), and geek pride.
Still, TV stations are playing PSAs encouraging voting, and the streets are filled with Sisi campaign posters emblazoned with the pat campaign slogan, "Long Live Egypt".
If all 435 House seats are filled and everybody votes, the number needed is 290.
The other half are filled proportionally through voting for party lists.
If not all seats are filled, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes cast for that candidate count for the next choice instead.
The rest of the slots are filled according to nominations and votes.
