2018 Egyptian presidential election

2018 Egyptian presidential election

← 2014 26–28 March 2018 2023 →
Registered59,078,138
Turnout41.05% (Decrease6.45pp)
 
Candidate Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Moussa Mostafa Moussa
Party Independent El-Ghad Party
Popular vote 21,835,387 656,534
Percentage 97.08% 2.92%

President before election

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Independent

Elected President

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Egypt between 26 and 28 March 2018,[1] though Egyptians abroad voted from 16 to 18 March 2018.[2] On 19 January, incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi formally announced he would run for a second and final term.[3] El-Sisi won the election with 97%, according to the official results. A runoff would have taken place 19 to 21 April outside the country and 24 to 26 April within the country if no candidate had reached 50% of the vote.[4] The election had a turnout of roughly 41%, lower than the 2014 election's 47%.[5] A 2019 constitutional change allowed El-Sisi to remain in power until 2030 instead of 2022.

Fourteen human rights groups dismissed the poll as "farcical."[6][7] They said the authorities had "trampled over even the minimum requirements for free and fair elections", stifling basic freedoms and eliminating key challengers.[8] The only approved challenger to Sisi was another pro-government politician, Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

  1. ^ "Egypt Sets March Date for Presidential Elections". Associated Press. 8 January 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  2. ^ "An idiot's guide to Egypt's 2018 presidential election". Ahram Online. 22 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  3. ^ "Egypt's Sisi announces intention to run for second term in 2018 presidential elections". Ahram Online. 19 January 2018. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2018.
  4. ^ Rana Mamdouh (8 January 2018). "Electoral authority: Presidential elections to be held in March". Mada Masr. Retrieved 8 January 2018.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi wins second 4-year term as Egypt's president in landslide victory with 97% of valid votes". Ahram Online. 2 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Egypt: Planned Presidential Vote Neither Free Nor Fair". Human Rights Watch. 13 February 2018. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Why Egypt's Presidential Elections are Neither Democratic nor Contentious". Political Violence at a Glance. 14 March 2018. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Egypt election: Sisi set to win second term as president". BBC. 29 March 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2018.