Early results show Sisi with strong lead, turnout estimates vary

In the small hours of Thursday morning, early results show former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with a commanding lead, at over 90 percent of the vote.  

Several sources, including Sisi's campaign, reported a higher number of invalidated ballots than votes for Hamdeen Sabbahi at a number of polling stations.

From midnight thousands of Sisi supporters were already congregating in Tahrir Square in anticipation of his win, causing heavy traffic in the surrounding downtown area.

Quoting Judge Abdel Aziz Salman, secretary general of the Presidential Election Commission, the German Press Agency cited a 37 percent turnout in the elections on Wednesday evening, based on the first two days of voting.

Meanwhile, the state-owned Middle East News Agency — citing the media spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior — mentioned that an estimated 30 to 35 percent of eligible voters took part in the elections. Sharqiya, Monuifiya and Daqahlia reportedly had the highest turnout rates.

Various mainstream media outlets — both private and state-owned — claimed that an estimated 40 to 50 percent of eligible voters participated.

However, these are not official figures, and they have not been verified by the Presidential Election Commission.

The 2012 election witnessed nearly a 52 percent turnout, although the eligible number of voters then was just under 51 million. The victor Mohamed Morsi won slightly more than 13 million of these votes.

This year a total of just under 54 million were eligible to vote.