A woman voter wearing a dress of the three Egyptian flag colors outside the Egyptian embassy in London to cast her vote in Presidential election - Egypt Today
CAIRO – 17 March 2018: On the second consecutive day of the elections held abroad, expatriates flocked once again to their respective embassies and consulates.
“Egyptians’ long queues for the second consecutive day in front of embassies and consulates where they cast their ballots reflect the Egyptians’ will that Egyptian people “vote for a president who can achieve stability,” Egyptian Ambassador to the UK Nasser Kamel said.
“I’m proud of all Egyptian expatriates. As a representative of the Egyptian state in the UK, I feel proud of the intensive turnout of all ages and classes,” Kamel added in a phone conversation with anchor Osama Kamal on DMC satellite channel on Friday.
Kamel added that “although London has witnessed an ice storm, I expect more voters will take part in the polls on Saturday and Sunday.”
The National Elections Authority (NEA) held a press conference on Friday to review the progress of the electoral process that commenced yesterday for overseas Egyptian voters.
The NEA spokesperson, Mahmoud El Sherif, who also serves as the deputy head of the authority, said that Egyptian embassies abroad witnessed a huge turnout from each country's Egyptian community.
He added that the NEA has not been informed of any obstacles facing voters abroad while casting their ballots, even in Turkey and Qatar, and expressed the authority’s full readiness to address any issues in this regard.
“It is not a must for any Egyptian living abroad to obtaina residency permit to beallowed to cast his/her ballot,” Sherif affirmed.
"Percentage of voter turnout will be announced by the end of the electoral process abroad," he added.
The Egyptian embassies in New Zealand and Australia inaugurated earlier the second day of voting in the presidential election on Friday at 10p.m. (Cairo time), while consulates and embassies across the world were to officially open their doors Saturday at 9a.m. local time in each country.
The government and media outlets in Egypt have urged voters to head to the polls on the second of the country's presidential election, amid a sign of a higher-than-expected turnout in the balloting.
Election monitors said Friday's polling witnessed thousands of Egyptians liningup to cast ballots across the world in a vote that will determine the country's elected president for the coming four years.
Due to political unrest and a worsening security situation, the elections would not take place in Yemen, Syria and Libya.
Egyptians at home are due to cast their ballots in the country's 27 governorates on March 26 until 28.
The 2018 presidential election takes place in 139 foreign embassies and consulates in 124 foreign countries for three days.
Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister 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 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.
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.
Egyptian citizens have the right to vote starting 18 years old. Article 2 of the political rights law (Law 45/2014) bans from voting those who suffer from mental disorders or are under judicial interdiction, or who have been convicted of a felony.
Active members of the Armed Forces and police are not allowed to vote unless they leave the service or retire.
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