CAIRO: Egyptian voters turned out in force on the second and penultimate day of a presidential election in which President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was expected to sweep to a third, six-year term in office.
Queues started forming on Monday at some polling stations in Cairo and elsewhere in the country long before they opened at 9 a.m.
El-Sisi is competing against three other candidates: Abdel-Sanad Yamama, the head of Wafd, Egypt’s oldest party, Hazem Omar, leader of the Republican People’s Party, and Farid Zahran, of the Social Democratic Party.
In the coastal city of Alexandria, El-Sisi’s electoral campaign officials reported a strong turnout at ballot boxes, and voting centers were said to be particularly busy in central Cairo and the southwestern New Valley Governorate.
Moushira Khattab, president of Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights, said: “We are reassured about the conduct of the presidential elections.” She added that the council had so far not received any complaints relating to election conduct.
National Elections Authority officials said that voting operations were proceeding in a disciplined and smooth manner, adding that voter turnout on Sunday had also been brisk.
Polls close at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, with the election results due to be announced on Dec. 18.
Passant Tarek, a 27-year-old dentist who cast her vote in Suez, said: “Voting is our duty, and it is the least we can do for the country, especially during these critical times and with the developments happening around the world.”
