Egyptians flock to presidential polls across Australia: Amb.

CAIRO – 16 March 2018: Egypt's ambassador to Australia, Mohamed Khairat, said the embassy in Canberra started to receive voters early Friday who came to cast their ballots in the 2018 presidential election.

He praised the Egyptian expatriates’ political awareness of the importance of participating in the elections, especially the youth who were keen to update their national IDs before the vote process.

Khairat pointed out that there are three diplomatic missions in Australia; the embassy in the capital Canberra and two consulates in Melbourne and Sydney, stressing that all the missions spare no effort to facilitate all voting procedures to allow Egyptians to cast their ballots easily. The Egyptian community in Australia amounts for 120,000 – 130,000 people, according to the ambassador.


An Egyptian woman casting her ballot in the 2018 presidential election held at Egypt's embassy in Canberra, capital of Australia- Egypt Today
Egyptian expatriates began lining up on Friday at polling stations in Australia to cast ballots in the 2018 presidential election scheduled to last for three days.

Consulates and embassies across the world are to officially open their doors Friday at 9am 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.

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

Due to political unrest and a worsening security situation, the elections would not take place in three countries: Yemen, Syria and Libya.

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

Egyptian Foreign Minister's Deputy Hamdi Loza said previously 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 ministry.

He added that the foreign ministry held training courses for committees that will supervise voting abroad under the supervision of the National Elections Authority (NEA), as well as other procedures aimed at facilitating the highest turnout from expats.

Loza called on Egyptians abroad to participate in the presidential elections, which will begin on March 16 and last for three days.


An Egyptian woman casting her ballot in the 2018 presidential election held at Egypt's embassy in Canberra, capital of Australia- Egypt Today

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 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.


An Egyptian man casting his ballot in the 2018 presidential election held at Egypt's embassy in Canberra, capital of Australia- Egypt Today