First Egyptian citizen to cast his ballot in 2018 election encourages Egyptians to participate

CAIRO – 15 March 2018: As voting in the Egyptian 2018 presidential election abroad kicked off, Thursday, Mohamed al-Masry, an Egyptian physician in New Zealand, was the first Egyptian citizen to cast his ballot in the 2018 election worldwide.

"It is an honor that I am the first Egyptian citizen to cast his ballot in the 2018 Egyptian presidential election worldwide," said al-Masry. "I encourage Egyptians to take 10 minutes to go and vote because this is deemed a responsibility, Egypt needs you."

Egyptian expatriates began lining up at 10pm (Cairo time) at polling stations in New Zealand to cast ballots scheduled for three days in the 2018 presidential election.

A voting committee was formed at the Egyptian embassy in Wellington, capital of New Zealand, headed by Ambassador Tarek Mohy El-Din Al Waseemi and the membership of Counselor Sameh Farouk Shehata. The committee's secretaries include the administrative attachés Maged Fawzi Khalil and Manar Abdel Khalek.

Australia, China, Japan, Russia and Indonesia would follow shortly throughout the night.

Egyptians at home are due on March 26-28 to cast their ballots in the country's 27 governorates.

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 Sisi and Moussa Moustafa Moussa, Head of al-Ghad Party.

Sisi showed his intention to run for president during his closing speech at the end of the three-day “Tale of a Homeland” conference, where the president and the Egyptian government presented an overview of the projects and achievements made in different fields during the last four years.

On his official Twitter account, Sisi called on the Egyptian people to participate intensively in the upcoming election and give their votes to whomever they see most eligible.

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.