Ambassador Ahmed Ragheb has confirmed that Egyptian expats will begin voting in the presidential elections on Friday despite a court ruling by the Administrative Court, a low level administrative court, to consider the Supreme Presidential Election Commission's call for the elections void.

Ragheb, who is the assistant to the minister of foreign affairs, said on Thursday that Egyptians living abroad have one week to vote in Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections.

586,000 Egyptians who have registered at embassies around the world will be choosing from 13 finalists.

It is estimated that 8 to 10 million Egyptians - out of a population of 85 million - live overseas.

The presidential elections will be on the 23 and 24 of May and a runoff will be held, if necessary, in mid June.