Staff report For the second consecutive day, Egyptian expats on Saturday continued cast their ballots at Egyptian embassies and consulates in the 2018 presidential elections. The atmosphere outside the embassies and the consulates was one of joy among Egyptian voters. Many expats have travelled hundreds of milies to arrive at the balloting stations to participate in the presidential vote, which will end Sunday for Egyptian living abroad. The Cairo-based National Election Authority (NEA), the independent body of judges overseeing the vote, said it had received no complaints and that the voting process was moving smoothly in more than 124 countries. Competing for Egypt's top post is incumbent President Abdel Fattah ElSisi and the head of the centrist el-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party Moussa Mustafa Moussa. In Jordan and Algeria, in particular, there was an unexpected flow of voters into the Egyptian embassies and consulates for the election. The Egyptian Ambassador in Algiers, Omar Ali Abu Eish, said that the voter turnout during the first and second day of voting had surpassed his highest expectations. Most Egyptian nationals, he said, live in provinces far away from the Algerian capital. However, everybody was keen on participating in the vote, despite heavy rains and bad weather conditions, Ambassador Abu Eish said in press remarks carried by the official Middle East News Agency (MENA). Outside the Egyptian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, the voters, who formed a long line, waited for their turn to reach the ballots boxes inside the facility. They acted as if they were attending a wedding party. Some of them sang patriotic songs and others chanted a recently released song glorifying the Egyptian army. A large number of voters also arrived at the Egyptian Consulate in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to participate in the election. The Egyptian Ambassador in Jordan, Tarek Adel, made his presence felt among the voters to ensure that nothing hindered or delayed the voting process. "There are no problems at all and I feel a strong desire among those showing up here for participation," Ambassador Adel said. There are 1.9 million Egyptians, who live in Jordan, either permanently, or temporarily for work. Millions of Egyptians also live in the Gulf region, Europe and the Americas. In Paris, where the Egyptian Embassy opened its doors for voters at 9:00 am, there was equal merriment and keenness by Egyptians to participate in the vote. Egyptian Ambassador in Paris Ehab Badawi praised the Egyptians living in France for coming to the embassy headquarters or to the Egyptian consulate in the southern port city of Marseille to cast their ballots. In Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Australia, and the US there was similar keenness on the part of the Egyptians to cast their votes in the election. Official turnout figures are not out yet, but some people expect these figures to make are record, compared to the voting of Egyptian nationals abroad in previous years. The presidential election will be held for three days in Egypt as of March 26. April 19 has been set as date for expatriates to cast their ballots should there be a run-off. Such balloting will be open for three days. The 2018 presidential elections are the fourth multi-candidate contest and the third such process since the January 25 Revolution
