Egyptian voters in Australia and across 166 nations have kicked off voting in the country’s second democratic Presidential elections in modern history. At least 250,000 Egyptian expatriates have cast their ballots in the presidential election, for which voting in Egypt will start on May 26. For many, this represents a crucial step in the country’s path to democracy. Many arrived early on Friday May 16 to be amongst the first in the world to participate in Egypt’s 2014 Presidential Elections. “Knowing that I was the first in the world to vote on Egypt’s new President is the greatest thing that has happened to me lately,” said Ali Abdel-Aziz, who cast his vote at 9:00AM on Friday, becoming the first Egyptian to cast his ballot in Melbourne. Despite there being more than 100,000 Egyptians living in Australia, fewer than 7,000 are expected to vote. This low turnout is also expected worldwide, where there are approximately seven million Egyptians but only 650,000 registered to vote. The failure to register has primarily been blamed on difficulties of obtaining new national identity cards or passports which are required to vote and can only often…
