Voter turnout for Egypt's presidential election reaches 45%: Poll body

Cairo, Dec 12 (IANS) Egypt's National Election Authority (NEA) announced that the turnout in the presidential election has reached approximately 45 per cent of the total eligible voters.

There is a high voter turnout at polling stations across all provinces, especially at some 360 non-resident ones nationwide, Ahmed Bendari, executive director of the NEA and head of its Central Operations Room, said in a statement.

The statement did not specify vote counting, but the NEA has said that some 67 million citizens are eligible to vote at more than 9,000 polling stations across the country, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bendari added that due to the high turnout, some stations ran out of voting cards and additional cards had to be supplied.

Non-resident polling stations have been established in every province to facilitate voting for workers who are away from their residences during the voting days.

Bendari noted that the electoral process across all polling stations in the country proceeded smoothly.

Presidential election voting began om Sunday in Egypt with four candidates contesting, including incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The voting in Egypt lasts from Sunday to Tuesday, with each day allowing 12 hours to cast ballots.

Overseas Egyptian voters had previously cast their ballots from December 1 to 3.

The NEA is expected to call a winner outright on December 18 if a candidate receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting, without the need to enact a run-off.

If the race enters a second round of voting, the final result could be announced as late as January 16, 2024, according to the NEA.