Egypt's Sisi gets overwhelming majority in initial poll count

A picture shows an Egyptian presidential election ballot with the ticked choice of candidate and former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a polling station in Cairo on May 28, 2014. Egyptian ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on May 28 led with abou
A picture shows an Egyptian presidential election ballot with the ticked choice of candidate and former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a polling station in Cairo on May 28, 2014. Egyptian ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on May 28 led with about 93 percent of votes cast in a two-way presidential election with results in from almost 15 percent of polling stations, state media reported. -- PHOTO: AFP

CAIRO (AFP) - Egyptian ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday led with about 93 per cent of votes cast in a two-way presidential election with results in from almost 15 per cent of polling stations, state media reported.

Sisi, who deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July, was widely expected to trounce his rival Hamdeen Sabbahi in the three-day election that wrapped up on Wednesday night.

The preliminary results come from tallies by each station, where ballots were counted after polls closed at 1800 GMT.

Sabbahi received 133,548 votes (2.95 per cent) to Sisi's 4,215,699 (93.3 per cent), according to the official Nile Television.

The station reported that 166,738 voters (3.7 per cent) spoiled their ballots.

Turnout figures were not immediately available.

While Sisi's victory was never in question, he had hoped for a large turn out in a show of support for his overthrow of Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement called for a boycott of the election.

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