Egyptian expats in Kuwait waiting outside the embassy to cast their votes on March 16, 2018 - Press photo
CAIRO - 16 March 2018: Egyptian community members in Kuwait flocked to the Egyptian embassy early Friday to cast their votes in the 2018 presidential election, where President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi runs for a second term against politician Moussa Moustafa Moussa.
Egypt’s ambassador to Kuwait Tarek al-Qouni was the first to cast his vote at 9 am, so that he can freely follow up the flow of the voting process, while he existed at the embassy at 7 am alongside the embassy’s staff.
Egyptian expats in Kuwait waiting outside the embassy to cast their votes on March 16, 2018 - Press photo
A footage shared by one of Egyptian expats in Kuwait showed the large numbers of voters queuing up outside the embassy, waiting for their turn to cast the ballot, while national songs are played in the background.
An electronic reader was installed in all Egyptian embassies around the world, to check the identity of every voter easily and quickly.
The embassy collaborated with Zain Telecommunications Company to send SMSs to the citizens remind them of the polling dates, and to make sure that their IDs are valid. In the early morning of Friday, the embassy provided voters with buses to transport them to its headquarter.
Egyptian expats in Kuwait waiting outside the embassy to cast their votes on March 16, 2018 - Press photo
Egyptian expatriates began lining up at polling stations in different countries such as Australia and New Zealand to cast ballots in the presidential election scheduled to last for three days.
Consulates and embassies across the world officially opened their doors Friday at 9 a.m. local time in each country.
The Egyptian Embassy in New Zealand was the first to open to the electorate, given an 11-hour time difference with Cairo.
Due to political unrest and a worsening security situation, the elections will not take place in Yemen, Syria and Libya.
Egyptians at home are due on March 26-28 to cast their ballots in the country's 27 governorates.
The 2018 presidential election takes place in 139 foreign embassies and consulates in 124 foreign countries for three days; starting March 16 until March 18.
Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Loza previously said that all foreign missions have been provided with electronic scanners so voters’ ID cards and passports can be quickly scanned, noting that the whole expatriate voting process will be monitored by surveillance cameras linked with an operations room at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
In 2017 the government estimated the number of Egyptians living abroad at 9.4 million.
The National Election Authority (NEA), headed by counselor Lashin Ibrahim, announced on February 24 the final list for Egypt’s upcoming presidential election including President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Moussa Moustafa Moussa, Head of al-Ghad Party.
Sixty million eligible voters will cast their ballots in the election on March 26-28 in Egypt, while expatriates will vote on March 16-18 at 139 polling stations located in embassies and consulates of 124 countries, said Ibrahim in a press conference.
The primary results of the first round of the election will be announced on March 29, where decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, will be made. The final results of the first round will be announced on April 2.
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