fatah al-sisi because we expect him to win. who is doing well or not so well in going into a third day? >> one of the big winners appears to be abdeltah al-sisi, someone everybody thought was deeply popular. he asked last summer for people to delegate. we thought it would be a replay and it is not. the noor party had thrown its weight with al-sisi and they clearly haven't been able to do it. >> what sort of number do you think we need, i say we, that's the royal we, to make this legitimate as it were? in the constitution vote in january about 23 million came out and voted out of the 53 million. is it 50% that you think he's got a mandate? >> after january when mubarak was overthrown, 18.5 million people came out to vote in that referendum. already we've exceeded, we're already above 20 in terms of turnout. more people have turned out in this election than turned out in march 2011. in march 2011 nobody said, turnout is so low, i think one of the arguments you're going to start hearing from supporters of sisi or more importantly supporters of morsi's overthrow, that low turnout is normal, so that's no different. >> but it's 35% in eu

many support the front runner abdel fatah al-sisi. >> this time, there are only two contenders. the front runner is again a military strongman. former defense minister abdel fatah al-sisi. >> the egyptians are coming down to where you the history and plan for their future. all the world is watching. >> reporter: the only other candidate for president is hamdin sobahi. who came in third in the 2012 election. >> i'm very proud of the young people in my campaign. i think they are the real heroes. >> reporter: there's also been a number of protests on polling day like in the hakim suburb of giza. a center for public opinion research suggests 12% of the more than 50 million people eligible to vote will boycott the election. a large portion are supporters of the outlawed muslim brotherhood. and feel al-sisi would move egypt back to military rule. security is a concern. there have been a number of attacks in the last few months against institutions including cairo university. goal of encouraging people to come out and vote. >> str we want security for the country. we don't want protests

the leader of that coup, the former army chief, abdel fatah al-sisi is virtually guaranteed to win. trying to boost low voter turnout, the vote is extended to another day. >> the people think these votes are illegal, five elections before, all had gone in vain. >> sisi's critics say he needs a high turnout to legitimize the results. the vote in syria nearly assures that bashar al-assad will have another term. yrnz outside the -- syrians outside the country, one fifth of that population in lebanon, half of them have been displaced because of the war. thousands of syrian refugees are voting in lebanon, most of them for saud. they worry if they -- assad. they worry if they don't vote they won't be allowed to return to syria or that relatives stiff living there will be punished. have to deal with the reality and that is why they are here. >> assad's forces are gaining ground over the rebel fighters in syria and once the results are in the vote will likely give him the stamp to continue that crack down on the opposition john. >> all right richelle, thank you. up next, the passing of a an

the only other candidate, abdel fatah al-sisi, says he is against the move. talking about these developments, abdalla, in the egyptian elections, you know the government is putting the figure of voter turnout at 37%. what does it tell you about how egyptians are actually feeling about the vote? >> i don't think we can confirm the figures, those sound inflated, the fact that they have extended voting into a third day, is trying to promote sisi's election something to be a consensus among all egyptian voters, they would also like to see the high turnout enthusiasm, in the rallies of months ago. the security problems that have happened since the coup last year, that egyptians have become very frustrated not just the pull into sisi and so on. >> is this the active boycott or apathy among the population? >> certainly a bit of both. those who are specificallily supporters of mohamed morsi and openly said that they splil simplsimply notare recognize th. some opportunity within the selection to try and appeal for some kind of a choice for egyptians have also cast the

. >>> egyptian presidential candidate abdel fatah al-sisi is promising new future, 92% of the vote. hundreds who boycotted the polls have been staging anti-coup rallies as georgi jamal fasal r. >> egypt's second largest city, alexandria, thousands of political prisoners currently behind bars. activists are billing this the second indian intefada. some say the number is as high as 40,000. many are crammed into small rooms forced to sleep on the ground with little or no sunlight. forcing prisoners to take drastic measures in a bid to secure their freedom. >> they treat my father very badly. they treat us badly when we go to visit him. that's why we have decided to gather with him to start an open-ended hunger strike until he is trowrnd us a free man. >> cheered him on in tahrir square. despite exit polls pointing to ah sisi having won over 92% of the vote, crowds gathered to celebrate. credibility of this year's election, including groups who monitored the polls. >> during presidential elections we had observers around the country but we feel that suppression and dissent and restricti

everybody mosques were used with calls blaring with a message if you love god go and vote to abdel fatah al sisiisi was only one of two candidates contesting the polls, he was the former general in the army that courts mohamed morsi. but voter numbers remained low so the he had lex commission announced tuesday they were extending the poll by one more day. claim that go weather had presurrendered many from taking part. but the last time th the egyptis voted in a president was in may 2012, the weather was identical, the pictures were not. back then long queues. the apparent low turn out in this year's election has been interpreted differently by all sides. the anti--coup alliance and the muslim brotherly have hailed it a victory. while others say it's a blow for the coup leaders. >> translator: the military in egypt is at its weakest point the coup is toppled and toppled by the empty ballot boxes. >> reporter: the result are said to be announced june if i feelth but the winner could be announced much earlier if the votes are finished being counted. the out come. election has never really been in k

the --, the huge favorite to win is the former army chief, i don't but all cc -- army chief, abdel fatah al-sisi. al-sisi is among the first to cast his vote in cairo, the beginning of a two-day election in egypt. make historywill today and tomorrow. may god stand by -- egyptians will make history today and tomorrow. may god stand by egypt. >> the veteran leftists finished third in the 2012 elections that brought muslim brotherhood back hooduslim brother mohamed morsi to power. >> they can see all the old people, all the older people waiting. they all want to make some change in the country. they are looking for a better future for us. i'm going to vote for al-sisi. he can make a better economy for us. military guy.is a don't enter politics. picture a different southwest of the capital. one of only three polling stations on the outskirts of the city has drawn just several dozen voters. are in front of walls stenciled with graffiti of pro-morsi martyrs. they boycott the vote. >> we will stay put in the street for 10 years if necessary. luck had to be spilled in every revolution around the world.

the streets of cairo are plastered with his image, field marshal abdel fatah al sisi. the former defense minister who just last summer deposed egypt's first democratically elected president. the muslim brotherhood backed mohamed morsi. morsi is now in prison along with tens of thousands of his supporters. part of a massive crackdown on the muslim brotherhood that left more than a thousand people dead. but sisi's tough tactics appeal to a lot of people here. that is exactly what liberal activist mohamed nabil, who boycotted today's election, is afraid of. >> reporter: so they are choosing stability over freedom. >> bye, bye, muburak! >> reporter: it is a chilling thought for nabil who first took over tahrir square three years ago to protest the dictatorship of hosni mubarak, and now watches as another military strongmen cements his hold on power. we visited about a dozen polling stations around the city today and it was interesting because we didn't see any big crowds. one sisi supporter even conceded to me that even he was surprised by how few people were on the street

>> well you know, i think abdel fatah al-sisi has a different view for the government than did mubarakr morsi did. he hasn't told us and that's on purpose, he does have a lot of interest in how religion tracks with governance. he has written pieces before about how you cannot separate religion from politics in muz lynn lim -- mu muslim countries. he is not a mubarak holdover. >> why is that? >> because he doesn't really have a plan. the important thing here is the fact that nobody can succeed as president of egypt. the elephant in the room that nobody is talking about is the economy. the economy is in a state of total collapse at the present time. so what we are seeing now is these vague plans of energy saving lightbulbs and things like that. while at the same time for example, sisi cannot get rid of the subsidies of food and petroleum products that take plactheplace of 50% of the budg. >> both men has promised that this is something they will deliver on. is that really a promise they can really keep? >> not at the level that people expect. the reality is no outside help is going to be

which many observers expect to be a route with overwhelming support going to retired army chief abdel fatah al sisio steps down in march to run. his opponent finished third in the 2012 election that brought down now-deposed president mohamed morsi, that brought morsi to power. but with the muslim brotherhood party banned, critics are calling the election ill ejimt. results are expected in june. >>> police in belgium on the hunt for a killer, releasing via of a man they say opened fire with an ak-47, killing four people at a jewish museum in brussels. security stepped up at jewish sites across the country. the victims have been identified as an israeli couple visiting from tel aviv, a french citizen and a worker at the museum. >>> happening today, track star oscar pistorius heading to a psychiatric hospital in pretoria for an assessment. his mental health now key to his murder trial. a judge decided his actions may have been affected by an anxiety disorder when he shot and killed his girlfriend, reeva steenkamp. he'll spend seven hours a day at the hospital for up to 30 days. >> out-patient treatmen

they cast their ballots in an election that's expected to install former army chief abdel- fatah al-sisi as the country's next leader. voting continues tomorrow. so far, there's been a strong turnout among women. >> they are very, very, very active really and they've begun to feel how important their country is and this is totally new. we were never used to vote. and now we think of the best for our country and we try to read and understand and analyze. >> woodruff: al-sisi ousted egypt's first freely-elected leader, mohammed morsi, whose muslim brotherhood supporters have urged their followers to boycott the vote. >> woodruff: the nigerian military says it knows where nearly 300 abducted school girls are being held, but won't use force to get them back, for fear the girls would be harmed. nigeria's state news agency quoted the chief of defense staff as saying they know where the islamist militant group boko haram is holding them. the girls were taken from their school seven weeks ago. since then, boko haram has killed nearly 500 other civilians in its fight to establish an islamic state