A voter at a Cairo polling station shows his finger dipped in ink to indicate he has voted in Egypt's presidential elections. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty
Today's presidential election is the first time Egyptians have been able to pick an alternative to their leader, Hosni Mubarak, but few expect to see change, writes David Fickling.
Mamduh Shawqi sees the whole process as a play: "The candidates are hilarious people, which makes you think they were probably all chosen by the current system to play the role of candidates," he writes.
The disillusion of many bloggers sits side-by-side with a weary excitement at the remote possibility of change. Ritzy Mabrouk delivers a potent picture of Cairo holding its breath as election day dawns, but concludes the election is a "dirty mess". Others see more potential in the contest.
Big Pharaoh has a report from lead challenger Ayman Nour's demonstration in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. The challenge to the established order was heightened by the fact that Nour's podium was set up in front of the Mogamma, a potent symbol of Egypt's congealed bureaucracy housing 20,000 government officials. "Something is definitely changing in Egypt," Pharoah wrote, noting the astonishing sight of demonstrators shouting, "Down Hosni Mubarak".
But along with Sphinx, he came away from Nour's rally seemingly more enamoured of the people power on display than of the candidate himself. Sphinx gives some analysis of Nour's platform and campaigning style, but concludes that Mubarak is still clearly going to win, "not necessarily because Mubarak or his campaign team have ordered a rigging operation but because the tradition of producing a result favourable to the leader is so deeply entrenched in the system".
The system, though, is showing some signs of rebelling. Egypt's union of judges, who are being used as election monitors, threatened to refuse to participate unless they were given more powers to ensure transparency. They finally capitulated earlier this week but their wrangling over the issue attracted an immense amount of blog comment.
"Unlike the current presidential circus whose outcome we already know," writes Baheyya, the judges' decision was "a true deliberative exercise whose results no one can foretell.
"When was the last time we've seen such genuine suspense in Egyptian politics?" she writes.
Even so, the most potent opposition to Mubarak comes not from politicians or judges but from more disparate groups, foremost among them being the banned Muslim Brotherhood and Kifaya, an anti-Mubarak group which has been at the centre of recent protests.
Bla la land describes the tense mood around a heavily policed Kifaya demonstration several hours before it has even begun. The group has been banned from protesting on election day, a decision which Sandmonkey views with scorn.
He's not alone in his contempt. More than 20 years of Mubarak's dictatorship and the establishment's tight grip on power have led to disillusionment about the very prospect of change for many bloggers. From Cairo with Love's Mohamed won't be taking part in the election, and believes that "voting for Mubarak is high treason".
"A whole generation has seen nothing but failure," he writes. "Isn't it enough? For God's sake, can't we hope for any better, can't we think any better of ourselves, don't we deserve any better? Do we really think that low of ourselves?!"
Freedom for Egyptians pays tribute to the potential of democracy, but concludes that a vote in today's elections would be wasted. "I will not be part of the regime's deception to the world drawing an imaginary image about Egypt that democracy is on the march. It is not. It is a matter of changing scenes in the same dictatorship play," she writes.
