FAYOUM, Egypt (AP) — When election-time rolls around, this impoverished province of farmlands south of Cairo has proven one of the most die-hard bastions of support for Islamists in Egypt, producing lopsided victories for the Muslim Brotherhood and its ultraconservative allies.

Last weekend’s referendum that approved Egypt’s Islamist-backed constitution was no exception. According to final results released Tuesday, nearly 90 percent of voters in Fayoum backed the charter, the second highest margin among the country’s 27 provinces, mirroring the levels Islamists received here in other votes since the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

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