Many Egyptians vote in 2nd day of election in UAE

CAIRO – 17 March 2018: Many Egyptians living in the UAE headed to the Egyptian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate in Dubai to cast their votes on the second day of the 2018 presidential election.

The UAE was among the countries which witnessed high voter turnout in the first day of the election, according to statements from National Election Authority (NEA) counselor Lashen Ibrahim.

Many Egyptian citizens have been standing in long queues after embassies and consulates opened their doors at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The Egyptian embassy allocated special buses to transfer those who don’t live in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The Egyptian embassy in Abu Dhabi stated that the voting process will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 9 p.m.

The polling stations in the UAE accomplished all technical and logistical preparations for the voting process. Moreover, they provided voters with all facilities to ease the voting process.

Dozens of Egyptian female voters chanted patriotic songs in front of the embassy’s headquarters in Dubai and raised photos of incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
Egyptian voters praised the well-organized and timely process which enabled them to cast their votes in an easy and quick manner.

Mohamed Ahmed Ismail, an Egyptian expat who has lived in the UAE for 22 years, was seen distributing Egyptian flags and water bottles to the Egyptian voters who lined up in front of the Egyptian consulate in Dubai.

Egyptian Ambassador to the UAE Wael Gad extended the voting time on the first day of the presidential election by two hours due to the huge turnout.

Gad said in press remarks that the Egyptian Embassy in Dubai is witnessing a large turnout from the Egyptian communities in the UAE, and therefore the voting will carry on until 9:00 p.m. instead of 7:00 p.m.

Egyptian expatriates worldwide visited 139 polling stations early Saturday in embassies and consulates to cast their ballots in the second day of the 2018 presidential election, which is scheduled to last until 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 obtain a residency permit to be allowed 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 10 p.m. (Cairo time), while consulates and embassies across the world were to officially open their doors Saturday at 9 a.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 lining up 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 Lashen 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.