Voters in Egypt began casting their ballots in the presidential elections, which will take place over three days, with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi widely expected to win a third term. Voting is conducted from 9 AM to 9 PM (0700-1900 GMT) over these three days, and results are scheduled to be announced on December 18, with at least one candidate needing to secure an absolute majority to avoid a runoff in early January.
As voting commenced this Sunday morning, small crowds gathered at polling stations in Cairo, where images of Sisi were prevalent in the weeks leading up to the elections. Riot police were heavily present at the entrances to Tahrir Square in the capital. National songs echoed through polling stations in Cairo as Sisi’s images dominated the scenes. Reuters reporters observed plainclothes police officers heavily deployed at polling centers.
Sisi cast his vote at a polling station in a school in the Heliopolis neighborhood of Cairo but did not make any statements to the media. Running against Sisi are three candidates: Fad Zahran (66), head of the Egyptian Democratic Social Party representing the center-left; Abdel Send al-Yamama (71), head of the liberal Wafd Party; and Hazem Omar (59), head of the Republican People's Party.
Voter Yasser Basyouni, a 48-year-old government employee, brought his daughter and son to a polling station in a school in the Fifth Settlement neighborhood of East Cairo, where national songs played over loudspeakers, stating that he would vote for Sisi. Basyouni said, "People need to understand that patriotism and participation are important... There is no one better than President Sisi at this stage, and the economic pressures are a global issue; we must be patient and endure to get through this phase."
The elections are being conducted under judicial supervision, and accredited local and foreign civil society organizations will be allowed to monitor the voting process. A victory for Sisi would grant him a six-year term, with urgent priorities including controlling near-record inflation, managing chronic foreign currency shortages, and preventing the escalation of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza.
Approximately 67 million citizens aged eighteen and older from a total population of 104 million are eligible to vote in the elections, which are overseen by more than twenty thousand judges. The National Election Authority announced that representatives from international and local organizations, as well as some foreign embassies in Egypt, will monitor the election process.
