The number of Egyptian expatriates who had cast a vote in the presidential election by 2pm on Friday exceeded 100,000, foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Aty said.

Polling stations opened on Thursday at Egyptian embassies and consulates abroad, and will remain open until Sunday. 

Voters in Egypt will go to the poll on 26-27 May.

Thursday saw over 65,000 expat Egyptians cast their votes, according to Egypt's Presidential Election Commission (PEC), the judicial body overseeing the elections.

Abdel-Aty said voting has so far been calm and organised, and a "festive" spirit is present among many voters, adding that turnout was specifically high in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany, Italy, France, England and New York in the US.

The numbers are expected to increase over the weekend, he told Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Voters are choosing between former military chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

Abdel-Aty said the ministry had not received any complaints of major violations in polling stations on Thursday.

However, Sabahi’s campaign had earlier said its overseas representatives had witnessed violations ranging from insults directed at his supporters to people campaigning on site for El-Sisi.

In the referendum on the country's new constitution in January, around 107,000 of 600,000 eligible expatriates voted.