Cairo: Ex-army chief Abdul Fattah Al Sissi and left-wing politician Hamdeen Sabahi are the only two contenders set to vie in next month’s presidential elections after a nomination deadline expired Sunday with no other hopeful officially joining the race.

Al Sissi last week officially registered his candidacy with 200,000 endorsements from eligible voters. Sabahi, who came in third in the 2012 presidential vote Saturday presented the required documents including 31,000 signatures.

An Eligible presidential contender is required to submit at least 25,000 such endorsements from at least 15 out of Egypt’s 27 governorates.

An election commission is to announce the final list of the candidates on May 2 after examining potential challenges to the eligibility of the applicants.

Famed TV anchor and feminist Bouthina Kamel has said she was unable to gather the required voter signatures.

“I was happy at the thousands of endorsements registered in support of my nomination. But the endorsements have not reached the required number,” Kamel said in a statement.

“I thank everyone who has backed and believed in the message that I tried to convey to the effect that half the Egyptian society [women] have an influential presence.”

Another female hopeful Huda Al Laithy, daughter of an ex-republican guard chief, has vowed to go to court to request a halt to the election process. Nassef said a 21-day nomination duration was not enough for her to collect the required endorsements in time and called for extending the deadline by two more weeks, according to independent newspaper Al Youm Al Saba.

Al Sissi, 59, is widely tipped to win the May 26-27 polls. He has been popular with many Egyptians since July last year when he led the army’s toppling of president Mohammad Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Sabahi, 59, is popular with leftists and young people, who are concerned that A Sissi’s election will mark a return to a police state linked to long-standing president Hosni Mubarak, who was forced to step down in a 2011 revolt.

Thirteen contenders vied in the 2012 presidential elections, which was won by Mursi.