Egyptians abroad cast their votes, process monitored in Cairo

The Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs has launched an operation room to follow up on the 2018 presidential election abroad.

Immigration minister Nabila Makram directed the launch to ensure a smooth and transparent ballot casting process for Egyptian expatriates.

The room is fully equipped with the required devices to communicate and monitor the election process upload; it communicates with Egyptian embassies across the globe to resolve any obstacle that might hinder the process.

Several Egyptian embassies across teh world including in Canberra, New Zealand, Japan and S. Korea have opened their doors for expatriates to cast their vote.

Egypt’s ambassador to China Osama Al-Magdoub said the embassy in Beijing had mobilised the Egyptian community residing in China via social media to encourage them to exercise their constitutional right in participating in the presidential election.

The Egyptian community in Saudi Arabia organized massive campaigns, organisational committees and voluntary task teams to assist in the 2018 presidential election in the Saudi kingdom and to encourage Egyptian expatriates into heading to the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh and the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah to cast their ballots.

Due to political unrest and a worsening security situation, the elections would not take place in three countries: Yemen, Syria and Libya.

The diaspora vote for the 2018 presidential election will last for three days beginning March 16.

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

The National Election Authority (NEA), headed by counselor Lashin Ibrahim, announced on February 24 the final list for Egypt’s upcoming presidential election including President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Moussa Moustafa Moussa, Head of al-Ghad Party.

President Sisi said on Thursday his government had fulfilled its promises during his first term and called on Egyptians to vote in large numbers to give the victor a strong mandate.

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.