More than 53 million Egyptians are voting on Monday and Tuesday in 14,000 stations across the republic to choose the countries next president.
Contestants are former defense minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and liberal politician Hamdeen Sabbahi.
The Muslim Brotherhood has publicly vowed to disrupt the elections via peaceful means, while other anti-governments groups have vowed to carry out disturbances using violence.
Following are updates on the developments at polling stations:
3:20pm
Clashes escalated between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and security forces in the village of Delga southwest of Minya on Monday afternoon after dozens of Brotherhood supporters thronged the eastern entrance of the village and fired fireworks to provoke the police and army.
In Maghagha, eyewitnesses said about 50 members of the Muslim Brotherhood fired fireworks on Gomgouriya Street to intimidate citizens and disrupt the elections. The assailants escaped to the side streets when police and army forces came.
The escalating violence prompted security forces to chase marches with armored vehicles and disperse them with tear gas, while two military planes were seen hovering the village to help the police confront protesters.
2:40pm
A supporter of presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi on Monday filed a complaint (No. 3241) in Abu Qurqas, Minya accusing supporters of rival candidate Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of campaigning for him inside the Qasim Amin school polling station, according to a statement from the Freedoms and Immunities Center for Human Rights.
The supporter, Alaa Mohamed Mousa from the village of Abyoha, said the head of the station ordered the removal of the campaigning material, which did not happen. “That is why I filed my complaint with the police,” he said.
1:34pm
One Judge at Ahmed Lotfy School in Haram, Giza prevented reporters from covering the polls inside the polling station despite having permits from the elections commission.
Al-Khulafaa al-Rashidin School in the nearby Feisal district reportedly witnessed a remarkably high turnout by female voters.
1:29pm
Two were arrested after hurling a Molotov cocktail at a polling station in Kafr al-Shorafa, Daqahlia, as they passed by on a Tok Tok (small three-wheeled vehicle).
1:00pm
Hamdeen Sabbahi's campaign said it detected interventions by police and army forces in the electoral process by denying candidates' representatives entry to polling stations without reviewing their authorization documents. It said the actions violate election laws which task committee officials with such procedures.
The campaign did not report the specific locations where the alleged violations occurred.
12:36pm
Security sources said the forces dispersed a protest by Brotherhood supporters at Kerdasa, Giza, that attempted to impede voters from casting their ballots.
12:32pm
The Salafi Nour Party is offering free rides to polling stations in Sohag, urging citizens to vote for Sisi.
Ahmed Saeed, a party official in Sohag, said party members are intensively deployed in the governorate to lobby for Sisi.
12:20pm
The Journalists Syndicate reported that an police officer assaulted Ahmed Abdel Rahim from Al-Osboa newspaper outside al-Azhar Institute in Qena while he was conducting coverage of the polling process.
Alaa Thabet, deputy chairman of the syndicate. told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the Presidential Elections Commission officials in Qena are practically not recognizing reporters’ permits and are allowing reporters to only enter stations without covering any of the process.
He said Islam Nabil, another reporter, was arrested at Qena’s Naga Hammadi. He said contacts are being made with the PEC for his release, adding that the syndicate cannot tolerate impediments to reporters activities.
11: 54am
Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb cast his ballot at al-Azhar Girls Institute in Maadi, south of Cairo.
11:37am
Tens of polling stations opened late in Qalyubiya as judges arrived belatedly. The governorate said the delay occurred only at 11 stations.
11:35am
Official sources at Giza Governorate warned that unknown groups intend to give out bottles of contaminated water to voters and security forces. The sources, who asked not to be named, said forces had been directed not to allow the distribution of food outside polling stations before checking it.
11:26am
Bomb squads in Fayoum defused an IED at the polling station in Fayoum Preparatory School discovered by the school's janitor. Security said the device was consisting of a bottle, a cellphone chip, wires and nails.
Meanwhile, supporters of former president Mohamed Morsy blocked the Cairo-Fayoum road.
11:00am
Tens of Muslim Brotherhood supporters protested in the city of Nasr in Beni Suef, hoisting anti-army and police banners. The protesters fired fireworks at the Anba Paula church, while police dispersed the protesters.
Meanwhile, an unknown attacker hurled an IED at the polling station at Ahmed Lotfy school in Omraniya, Giza. No injuries were reported an the vote resumed normally.
An IED was defused outside polling station at Hawamdiya Secondary School in Hawamdiya, Giza. The bomb contained nails and explosive substances. Bomb squads moved to the scene while the vote resumed.
