欧美文化:Egypt's presidential election turnout reaches 45 pct: authority

CAIRO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's National Election Authority (NEA) announced on Monday that the turnout in the ongoing presidential election until noon today reached approximately 45 percent of the total eligible voters.

There is a high voter turnout at polling stations across all provinces, especially at some 360 non-resident ones nationwide, Ahmed Bendari, executive director of the NEA and head of its Central Operations Room, said in a statement.

The statement did not specify vote counting, but the NEA has said that some 67 million citizens are eligible to vote at more than 9,000 polling stations across the country.

Bendari added that due to the high turnout, some stations ran out of voting cards and additional cards had to be supplied.

Non-resident polling stations have been established in every province to facilitate voting for workers who are away from their residences during the voting days.

Bendari noted that the electoral process across all polling stations in the country proceeded smoothly.

Presidential election voting began Sunday in Egypt with four candidates contesting, including incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The voting in Egypt lasts from Sunday to Tuesday, with each day allowing 12 hours to cast ballots. Overseas Egyptian voters had previously cast their ballots from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3.

The NEA is expected to call a winner outright on Dec. 18 if a candidate receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting, without the need to enact a run-off.

If the race enters a second round of voting, the final result could be announced as late as Jan. 16, according to the NEA.