Polling stations for voting in the Egyptian presidential elections opened in all provinces of the country at 09.00 local time.
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The elections will take place over three days – December 10, 11 and 12. The sites will close at 21:00. About 67 million Egyptians have the opportunity to vote. During the elections, 9,376 polling stations will operate throughout the country. 14 international organizations will monitor the election process, and 220 international observers have been approved.
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In the first round, incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will compete with the leader of the Republican People’s Party (50 seats in parliament) Hazem Omar, the head of the liberal Wafd Party Abdel Sanad Yamama and the chairman of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party Farid Zahran.
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In August, the largest party in the Egyptian parliament, Mustaqbal Watan (Future of the Motherland), announced that it was in favor of el-Sisi’s nomination for a new term. On the twenty-fifth of September, the date for the elections was announced by the National Election Commission of Egypt. In early October, the country’s current leader announced that he would run for a third term.
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Submission of documents to register for the elections took place October 5-14. The final list of candidates was approved by the Egyptian Electoral Commission on November 9, the same day the month-long election campaign officially began. Friday and Saturday were days of silence, during which any election campaigning was prohibited.
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Egyptian presidential elections outside the country took place on December 1-3. Voting took place in 137 polling stations in 121 countries.
