Egyptian youth head the queues at voting polls in Athens

CAIRO – 16 March 2018: Egyptian expatriates in Athens, Greece, have flocked to the designated polling stations early Friday to cast their votes in the 2018 presidential election.

Flocks of Egyptians have lined up in front of the embassy and consulates across Greece early Friday waiting for the polling stations to open their door.

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

Egyptian Ambassador to Greece Mohamed Farid was keen to assist the voters himself so that they can cast their ballots easily.

“As we vowed, we [youth] will be the first voters in the presidential election,” said the first voter in the presidential election in Athens, Ahmed Samir, head of the Egyptian Youth Abroad Union.

Samir affirmed that the Egyptian community in Greece is expected to vote for incumbent President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to lead Egypt for a second four-year presidential term.

Consulates and embassies across the world were to officially open their doors Friday at 9 a.m. local time in each country.

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

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.