Egyptians were voting Wednesday on the third day of a presidential election guaranteed to give a second term to Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, leaving turnout as the only contest.

Voters trickled into polling stations, even as authorities encouraged them to show up in high numbers.

The country’s election authority warned it would implement a law fining people who do not vote 500 pounds (about $30), saying that not voting “serves the interests of people who hate the country”, state television reported.

Sisi won his first term in 2014, a year after the former army chief ousted his Islamist predecessor Mohammad Mursi following mass protests against him.

He won that election with 96.9 percent of the vote, against a left-wing candidate.

Source: AFP