Clashes have broken out between supporters of Islamist, secular political parties and police as Egypt goes to the polls in the latest round of parliamentary elections.
There have also been reports of police intimidation of voters.
The violence, coupled with wide-scale arrests, contributed to low voter turnout and came amid efforts by the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement - Egypt's largest Islamist group - to bolster its already impressive tally of 47 out of 186 seats decided so far.
The ruling National Democratic Party has claimed 122 seats and is expected to maintain control of the 454-member legislature at the end of Egypt's three-stage elections.
The strong showing by the Brotherhood - already tripling its previous number of the seats - has been followed by violence, unrest and detentions.
Today's run-off is to decide 122 seats in nine provinces where no candidate got more than half the vote in the second round Nov. 20. Polls closed at 7 p.m.; initial results were expected later Saturday, with final tallies within three days.
Senior Brotherhood member Ali Abdel Fattah said police arrested 680 movement members and supporters Saturday. Earlier, a police official said 140 Brotherhood members were arrested.
At least five people were wounded in the violence, led by armed thugs roaming streets on foot or in vehicles.
Supporters of the Brotherhood, which has been banned since 1954, accuse the NDP of enlisting thugs to threaten voters, while the NDP and other political groups accuse the Brotherhood of instigating the violence.
The Brotherhood's platform is based on a vague call for the implementation of Islamic law in the Arab world's largest nation. It advocates the veil for women and campaigns against perceived immorality in the media, but the group insists it represents a more moderate face of Islam than that followed in deeply conservative Saudi Arabia.
Election monitors complained security forces blocked some of the 10 million eligible voters from casting ballots. Judicial official Hesham el-Bastawy said some judges were considering canceling the vote in some areas due to police cordons at polls.
The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession said one of its monitors was arrested and police let only NDP supporters vote in the eastern city of Suez.
Interior Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Hammad denied that polls were closed or that police were blocking voters. He said elections were "unfolding in an orderly manner."
The ministry also said at least 78 people were arrested in various centers including Alexandria, Port Said and Fayoum, west of Cairo. Police responded with tear gas in some cases, according to a ministry statement.
There were reports of anti-Brotherhood violence in three villages about 75 miles north of Cairo.
AP