“The Carter Center has received accreditation as one of the organizations that will witness the election by Egypt’s Supreme Presidential Election Commission,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, according to AFP.

She said the 22 observers from 14 countries will “join in total an 80-person witness delegation covering 35 countries and they will be there for several days before the election and through the election,” Nuland told reporters.

The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights.The Carter Center has been a pioneer of election observation, monitoring more than 80 elections in Africa, Latin America, and Asia since 1989 and forging many of the techniques now common to the field.

Polls indicate that Amr Mussa, a former foreign minister and Arab League chief, and Islamist candidate Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh are the leading contenders in the May 23-24 elections, according to Egypt Independent News. 

Eleven other candidates are competing in the presidential election which should mark the end of a turbulent military-led transitional period since president Hosni Mubarak’s was ousted in February 2011.

Results of the voting for expatriates are expected to be announced on Friday, the Supreme Presidential Election Commission (SPEC) 
announced, with a run-off voting set to take place between June 3 and 9, if necessary. Voting inside Egypt will take place on May 23-24.

According to Egyptian media, 57,000 Egyptians have already voted. Turnout has been particularly high in Saudi Arabia, home of nearly half of the 587,000 registered voters abroad.

In a statement issued on Friday he said he reversed an earlier decision to stay out of the race after after his supporters urged him to run for presidency.

Suleiman’s next step is to get the endorsement of 30,000 supporters by Saturday before officially submitting his application to run, Reuters reported.

A leading figure in Egypt’s intelligence system beginning in 1986, Suleiman was appointed as vice president by Hosni Mubarak .On 11 February 2011, Suleiman announced Mubarak’s resignation and ceased being Vice President and governing power was transferred to the military council.

Under Mubarak, Suleiman served as a negotiating partner for the United States, Israel and the Palestinians,orchestrating a series of short-lived truces.

Many in Egypt regard Suleiman as having formed part of the inner circle of Mubarak.

The military says it will hand power  by the end of June. The front runners of the elections include Khairat el-Shater, a leader of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, and former foreign minister and Arab League chief Amr Mussa.

Egyptians will vote on May 23 and 24 in what is regarded as Egypt’s first free and fair presidential race.