28 March 2018•Update: 28 March 2018
CAIRO
Egyptians continued to cast ballots on Wednesday, the third day and final day of a presidential poll in which incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is facing off against the leader of a little-known liberal party.
As on Monday and Tuesday, polling stations opened at 9:00 a.m. (local time) Wednesday -- amid tight security -- and will close their doors at 9:00 p.m.
The authorities and Egypt’s pro-regime media have been urging citizens to cast ballots amid calls by opposition figures and activists to boycott the vote.
Footage aired by local media on the first two days of the polling on Monday and Tuesday showed voters celebrating outside polling stations, drawing criticism from opposition quarters.
Roughly 59 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the polls, in which al-Sisi is being challenged by liberal candidate Musa Mustafa Musa.
Last week, Egyptians living abroad had three days in which to cast ballots.
Final election results are expected to be announced next Monday (Apr. 2).
The presidential vote is being held amid tight security as the Egyptian army continues to fight a deadly militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula.
Al-Sisi is almost certain to win in a landslide after several high-profile would-be challengers -- including a popular former army chief -- were effectively sidelined in the run-up to the polls.
A former defense minister, al-Sisi spearheaded a 2013 military coup that unseated Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood group.
Reporting by Viola Fahmy; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat
