Voting Extended to 10pm in Final Day of Egypt’s Presidential Elections

The Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) has extended voting hours on Tuesday to 10pm, as Egyptians cast their ballots in the second day of a two-day election to choose their first leader since last year’s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Voting had ended at 9pm on Monday, but commission head Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Aziz Salman said in a statement on Monday night that Egyptians would have an extra hour to choose either leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi or former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi as the country’s head of state.

Reports suggested late on Monday that the turnout had been relatively low, with a handful of prominent television anchors urging people to vote en masse on Tuesday.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab also announced late on Monday that Tuesday would be a holiday for employees in the government sector, in order to allow Egyptians to vote.

Mahlab also called on private businesses to grant their employees a holiday so they can cast their ballots.

Source:Al-Ahram Online