Updated

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has submitted his nomination documents to Egypt's election commission, a day after a potentially serious challenger was arrested over criminal allegations.

El-Sissi did not submit the documents in person, leaving a representative to do that Wednesday.

Images released by his office showed workers taking out of the back of a van boxes bearing the president's image and the phrase "long live Egypt!" el-Sissi's trademark slogan.

The boxes contained "recommendations" from voters who want el-Sissi to run for a second, four-year term in the March 26-28 vote. Under the constitution, would-be candidates must obtain 25,000 recommendations from voters or secure the support of 20 elected lawmakers to qualify to run.

The military Tuesday arrested former chief of staff Sami Annan over allegations of forgery and breaching military rules.