Egypt's Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) has rejected all appeals challenging the results of last week’s presidential poll, paving the way for a runoff vote next month between Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Morsi and Mubarak-era minister Ahmed Shafiq.

On Monday, state news agency MENA quoted an unnamed source as saying that the SPEC had rejected all appeals submitted by runner-up candidates after thoroughly re-checking vote counts.          

Al-Ahram's Arabic-language news website also reported that an anonymous judicial source had confirmed in an exclusive media statement that final vote counts had verified that Morsi had come in first and Shafiq second, as per the initial results.

The source stressed that numerical disparities between preliminary and final results were negligible.

In the first-round vote, results aggregated by Ahram Online showed that Morsi had amassed 25.30 per cent of the total vote from all 27 governorates, while Shafiq, in second place, secured 23.74 per cent.

Nasserist contender Hamdeen Sabbahi, meanwhile, was eliminated from the race after finishing third with 21.60 per cent of the vote.

Sabbahi, at a Saturday campaign conference, announced his intention to file an appeal against the results, promising “to build a nation of justice and love, the January 25 Republic, which will ultimately be victorious.”

Final results of the first-round vote of Egypt’s first post-Mubarak presidential elections were expected to be officially announced on Tuesday, but SPEC Secretary-General Hatem Bagato has said the commission would be able to announce them on Monday evening.

The presidential runoff vote has been slated for 16 and 17 June.