Recent price hikes have seen the cost of living rise by as much as 50 percent since Jan. 1, causing widespread civil unrest in the Arab world's largest nation.

Since Sunday, the northern Nile Delta city of Mahalla Al-Kobra has been the frontline of these tensions. Demonstrators have clashed with security forces on and off since a general strike was called for April 6.

As many as four activists have died, including a 15-year-old boy, Egyptian bloggers following the events have reported, although the interior ministry has denied the deaths.

Police fired tear gas at as many as 7,000 protesters in the northern town Monday evening after citizens trampled and destroyed a picture of President Hosni Mubarak and other symbols of his ruling National Democratic Party.

"We are keeping the peace in the face of those who are trying to destroy this country and its reputation," an interior ministry official argued.

"Today is another example of Egypt's democracy and there are people who are trying to ruin that and this is unacceptable, so the security forces have been called to bring peace to Mahalla. Nobody has died and only a few soldiers have been wounded," he added.

Voting went on amid little doubt the NDP would dominate.

The government has a candidate in each of the 52,000 posts while the popular Brotherhood was allowed only 21 of their original 4,000 candidates due to arrests of hundreds of its members, government crackdowns and the inability to register for the election.

Ninety percent of the government candidates are running unopposed due to the restrictions placed on other parties. The liberal al-Wafd party was allowed only 700 candidates out of an original 1,700 and the socialist Tagammu only 400.

"The government interfered in the election by banning the acceptance of our nominees and refused to follow court orders that the Brotherhood members achieved," Mohamed Badr, a spokesman for the banned organization said, alluding to the hundreds of court cases issued telling the government to remove the ban on the Islamic party's nominees.

Courts across Egypt also called for the election itself to be stopped due to the likelihood it would not be fair, thereby nullifying the results.

"Therefore there is no competition, and from that point we are boycotting and we are asking people to boycott," Badr added.

Although the local councils have little power, they are key in determining who can stand in the 2011 presidential campaign. A party must get 10 council members in 14 governorates in order to field a candidate.

With the government forbidding Brotherhood candidates to stand for election on Tuesday, the ability for the Islamic group to nominate one of its members for the presidency in three years is greatly weakened.

With demonstrations still gripping the nation, few Egyptians ventured to polling stations. Those who did said they were determined to voice their frustration with the current situation.

"I hope to show them [NDP] that we will not stand and let them take our lives away while they sit in their nice homes and talk about how much they feel for us," Ali, a 72-year-old taxi driver, said as he remembered how far prices have risen.

"I remember when I could buy 20 kilos of petrol for 28 piasters," Ali continued, "but now we are seeing prices rise so much that it is hard to get food each day. I fear for my family and friends."

The local elections have highlighted how far Egypt still has to go before achieving the democracy Mubarak promised during his 2005 presidential campaign, international organizations have repeatedly said.

Rights groups have stressed that the government's continued aggressive crackdown on Brotherhood members, arresting and imprisoning hundreds in the weeks leading up to the April 8 vote, reveal democratic ideals are still rudimentary.

"The government has not charged any of the 800 detained Muslim Brotherhood members with actual crimes," director of the Middle East division for Human Rights Watch, Joe Stork said in a statement from the organization. "It should release them now."

"The ruling National Democratic Party heavily dominates the local councils, and President Mubarak seems determined to keep it that way, whatever the cost to his government's legitimacy," Stork said.

Election results are expected later in the week.

Egyptian bloggers have called for a second strike on May 4, which happens to be Mubarak's 80th birthday.

"We succeeded on April 6, so let's do it again on May 4," read a message on the Facebook social networking site that has over 60,000 members.