Polling stations across Egypt opened their doors early Saturday at 9 AM Cairo Local time to voters on the constitutional amendments. There are currently 10, 878 central polling stations and 13 ,919 polling stations across the country that have opened to their doors for voters from Saturday till Monday. More than 61 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the referendum. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi casted his vote earlier Saturday in Martyr Mostafa Yousry Emira school in Heliopolis. Egyptians who live in governorates outside of their local election constituencies can still vote at special polling station reserved for out-of-governorate voters, according to the National Elections Authority. Around 20,000 judges will supervise the voting process at ballot boxes, and 55 local civil society groups, five foreign non-government organisations and three national councils will monitor the vote, Head of the National Election authority Judge Lasheen Ibrahim told Al-Ahram Daily. Constitutional amendments referendum kicked off on Friday abroad and will continue on Saturday and Sunday in 140 Egyptian consulate and embassy in 124 countries. Egyptians are voting on the proposed amendments to the 2014 charter, which were overwhelmingly approved by the parliament on Tuesday ,with 531 out of 596 members in favour, 22 against and one abstention. On the presidency, the amendments include changing the length of presidential terms to six instead of four years under the 2014 charter. They also extend the second term of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, which is set to end in 2022, by two years, and allow him to run for the office for another term in 2024. El-Sisi was first elected president in 2014 and was re-elected last year in a landslide victory where he secured 97 percent of the vote.
