Voting begins in Egyptian presidential election

Voting began throughout Egypt at nine in the morning Monday. Current Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is competing against Moussa Mostafa Moussa, head of the Ghad party. The voting will last for three days.

According to the National Election Commission there are 59 million eligible voters who will vote in around 13,706 registered locations. The massive election will be overseen by 18,000 judges amd 110,000 employees at thousands of polling stations. Voters will ink one of their fingers as a sign of voting, a process that evidently ensures no one will vote twice. According to the Egyptian press, polling stations will be closed between 3 and 4 p.m. so the attendants can rest.Egypt has a history of holding elections dating back many years. In 2014 Sisi won 96% of 23 million votes while in 2012 the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi had won 51% of the vote. There are several small changes this year. The elections authority has set up a new elections committee in Halayeb city on the Red Sea and its residents will participate for the first time, according to the Egypt Independent. In addition two polling stations have been opened in Cairo specifically for workers in a construction zone. Polling stations were also supposed to accommodate disabled people and encourage women to participate, according to instructions published from the election commission.