Voting ends in Egypt's presidential election

Staff members count ballots following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

CAIRO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA).

The timetable previously released by the NEA indicated that the vote-counting, which started after 9:00 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday, will be completed on Wednesday.

"The voter turnout on the third day is unexpectedly high, indicating a historical and unprecedented total turnout," NEA Executive Director Ahmed Bendari said at a press conference, attributing the high turnout to the increasing awareness of citizenship.

According to the organization, the turnout on Monday reached approximately 45 percent of the total 67 million eligible voters.

Presidential election voting began Sunday in Egypt with four candidates competing, including incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who is running for a third term as exceptionally allowed by constitutional amendments in 2019, which also extended the presidential term from four to six years. He won both the 2014 and 2018 elections with an overwhelming majority.

The other three contestants are the Social Democratic Party's Farid Zahran, Al-Wafd Party's Abdel-Sanad Yamama and the People's Republican Party's Hazem Omar.

Egypt's presidential election is based on the majoritarian two-round system, in which one of the candidates must win an absolute majority of votes to avoid a run-off round.

The final result is scheduled to be officially announced on Dec. 18, and in case of a run-off round, it will be announced on Jan. 16, 2024, according to the NEA.

A staff member counts ballots following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

A staff member puts ballots out of a box for counting following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Staff members count ballots following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

A staff member puts ballots out of a box for counting following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

A staff member puts ballots out of a box for counting following the conclusion of the voting in Egypt's presidential election at a polling station in Cairo, Egypt, on Dec. 12, 2023. Egypt concluded on Tuesday the three-day voting in the presidential election as the vote-counting process started immediately, according to the National Election Authority (NEA). (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)