But a lower-than-expected turnout could suggest el-Sissi lacks a mandate to take more of the tough steps needed to revive the economy, which struggled after the 2011 revolution drove away tourists and foreign investors.

Authorities hope enough people — there are nearly 60 million eligible voters — will vote in the three-day balloting, which ends Wednesday, to give the election legitimacy. Powerful pro-government media have in past weeks relentlessly portrayed voting as a national duty, required to protect the country against foreign conspiracies.

The incumbent's sole challenger is Moussa Mostafa Moussa, a longtime el-Sissi supporter widely dismissed as a dummy candidate: Moussa's Ghad party had actually endorsed el-Sissi for a second term before he emerged as a last-minute challenger.

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Moussa dismisses accusations he is being used to present a false sense of competition, and the electoral commission says it will ensure the vote is fair and transparent.

Egyptian presidential candidate Moussa Mostafa Moussa arrives Monday to cast his vote at a polling station in Cairo. Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images

An editorial in state-owned newspaper al-Ahram acknowledged the narrow choice for voters but suggested the mere holding of the ballot signaled Egypt was regaining its strength in the face of current domestic and foreign threats.

"The importance of presidential elections this time is not fierce competition or a real (electoral) battle, but a message to the world that Egypt is on its way through a recovery phase," it said.

Critics say El-Sissi's popularity since his 2014 election has been hurt by austerity reforms and a muzzling of opponents, activists and independent media. Courts have passed death sentences on hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters since 2013.

El-Sissi's backers — which include Western powers and most Gulf Arab dynasties — say the measures are needed to keep the country stable as it recovers from political chaos and tackles an Islamist insurgency focused in the Sinai Peninsula.

Neither candidate has done much campaigning, appealing instead for a high turnout. El-Sissi won nearly 97 percent of the vote in 2014, but less than half of eligible Egyptians voted even though the election was extended to three days.

In remarks earlier this month that suggest el-Sissi may see the vote as a referendum on his performance, he said: "If (all Egyptians) vote and a third say, 'No', that would be a lot better than if half that number turn out and all of them say, 'Yes.'"