By: Ashraf Sadek CAIRO, March 23, 2018 - As the official campaigning for this week's presidential elections come to an end on Saturday, Egyptians will be flocking to more than 13, 687 polling stations nationwide on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to elect a new head of state, a senior official said on Friday. Justice Lasheen Ibrahim Lasheen, the chairman of the National Election Authority (NEA), said that the balloting would start in the early hours of Monday when voters arrive at the polling stations, which would be supervised by judges and their aides. Justice Lasheen said that more than 18,678 judges, who would be assisted by 103,000 Ministry of Justice employees and technicians, would supervise the three-day elections. He said that the NEA had set an operations room tasked with following up the election process as well as responding to queries and complaints. Justice Lasheen urged the Egyptians not to give up their right and participate in the elections. He renewed his appeal for citizens to revise their registration in the constituencies where they would happen to be during the elections should they be unable to cast votes in the constituencies corresponding to their passport, or national identity card data. Justice Lasheen said that Egyptian expatriates had intensively participated in the country's presidential election, proving their keenness on taking part in the political decision-making process in Egypt. He said that the Egyptian expats had challenged the difficulties of severe weather conditions in some countries and travelled for long distances to reach the polling stations and cast their ballots. He also said that international organisations and local groups had been approved to monitor the elections. The observers received prior to their deployment a detailed briefing on the polling process, electoral and political environment, human rights, the media and operational issues, he said. The monitors do not legitimise the electoral process nor do they validate the election results. The observers are bound by a code of conduct that ensures their neutrality and impartiality, Justice Lasheen said. In the 2018 presidential elections, there are just two candidates, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Mr. Moussa Moustafa Moussa, the chairman of the liberal el-Ghad Party. In a related development, Mr. Karam Gabr, the chairman of the National Press Board, on Saturady presides over a special function during which he would meet with more than 350 journalists, whom the Board had approved to cover the 2018 presidential elections. Mr. Gabr has highlighted the importance of the press role at the present phase, urging journalists to be objective, accurate and precise in what they relay to the masses during the March 26-28 presidential elections. The 350 reporters, who completed an intensive training course by the Board, have pledged to put the media code of ethics into practice and avoid issues that incite contradiction or sedition during the elections, Mr. Gabr said. An electoral campaigning silence, which went into effect today, will also be maintained tomorrow as well, he added.
