Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) Secretary-General Abdel-Aziz Soliman has stated that all polling stations opened on time, adding that no complaints have been made as yet.

So far, the turnout appears to be high, he told Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Monday is the first day of the presidential elections that follow the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.

The race includes only two contenders: former army chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

Polling stations open at 9am across Egypt and should run for 12 hours – with possible extensions depending on turnout.

In previous elections there were many publicised incidents of polling stations failing to open on time, sometimes by several hours.