CAIRO—Egyptian election authorities started counting ballots after polls closed Wednesday in a lacklustre vote virtually guaranteed to hand President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi a second four-year term. The government is hoping for high turnout to lend the election legitimacy, and has staggered the voting over three days. El-Sissi won 96.9 per cent of the vote in 2014, with an official turnout of more than 47 per cent. In the 2012 election, which saw heightened competition between Islamists and opponents, turnout reached 52 per cent. At Saleh Hamad school in Shubra, at least 3,500 of 12,000 eligible voters cast their votes by midday, or about 29 per cent, polling judges there said.

Source: thestar March 28, 2018 18:45 UTC