Doors open for Egyptians in Italy to vote in presidential election

CAIRO - 16 March 2018: The Egyptian embassy in Rome opened its doors for expatriates at 10 a.m. (Cairo time) on Friday to cast their ballots in the 2018 presidential election where President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi runs for a second term against politician Moussa Moustafa Moussa.

Egypt's ambassador to Italy, Hesham Badr has arrived early morning on Friday at the embassy to cast his vote.


Egyptians in Rome cast their votes at the embassy on March 16, 2018 - Press photo

Consulates and embassies across the world are to officially open their doors Friday at 9 a.m., according to each country’s local time.

The Egyptian embassy in New Zealand was the first to open to the electorate, given an 11-hour time difference with Cairo.

China, Japan, Russia and Indonesia followed it shortly throughout the night.
Due to political unrest and a worsening security situation, the elections will not take place in Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Egyptians at home are due to cast their ballots on March 26-28 in the country's 27 governorates.

Egyptians in Rome cast their votes at the embassy on March 16, 2018 - Press photo

Egyptian Foreign Minister's Deputy Hamdi Loza previously said 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He added that the foreign ministry held training courses for committees that will supervise voting abroad under the supervision of the National Elections Authority (NEA), as well as other procedures aimed at facilitating the highest turnout from expats.

Loza called on Egyptians abroad to participate in the presidential elections, which will begin on March 16 and last for three days.

In 2017 the government estimated the number of Egyptians living abroad to be 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.

Sisi showed his intention to run for president during his closing speech at the end of the three-day “Tale of a Homeland” conference, where the President and the Egyptian government presented an overview of the projects and achievements made in different fields during the last four years.

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 between Friday and March 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.