The presidential elections commission (PEC) issued a statement late Tuesday afternoon slamming calls in the media for voters to cast their ballots without residence restrictions in order to raise the turnout in the 2014 poll.

The commission stated that it would not allow the voters to cast their ballot without residence restriction because such action can "nullify" the whole elections process.

"Such action will nullify the whole elections process and will lead us to repeat the whole elections from the beginning," thestatement added.

According to PEC the number of voters who cast their ballots without residence restrictions during the Constitution referendum in January 2014 was only 424,000 not millions as claimed on talk shows.

"Allowing the voters to cast their votes without residence restrictions will weaken security precautions to prevent repeated voting," PEC added.

On Monday night, citing possible low turnout on day one of the poll, prominent TV hosts Lamees El-Hadidy and Ahmed Moussa, both support Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for president, called on PEC to allow voters to cast their ballots without residence restrictions.

The Conference party, which has also endorsed El-Sisi, also called PEC to lift the residence restrictions on voters to make it easier for tourism workers who live away from home to vote.

The polling stations will be closed at 10PM on Tuesday.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/102340.aspx