Egypt's electoral commission on Sunday closed the door of registration for next month's presidential election, leaving the race only between former military chief Abdel Fattah Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi.

The first round of the election is slated on May 26 and 27, with Sisi widely expected to win easily after the military ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July.

According to the Presidential Electoral Commission, Sisi has collected 188,930 signatures, while his sole rival Sabahi, 31,555 endorsements.

Egypt's election law requires that candidates must collect at least 25,000 signatures from no less than 15 provinces to endorse the candidacy.

Each candidate has the right to appeal against each other on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the commission will announce the official list of candidates on May 2. The election campaigns will start on May 3.

Sisi is enjoying a huge popularity since he toppled Morsi as a response to the mass protests against the latter's one-year turbulence rule. However, Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood loyalists accused Sisi of his "military coup" and launched protests across the country almost on a daily basis.

If either of the two candidates withdraws, the other could win by garnering only five percent of the votes.