Polls opened in Lebanon’s parliamentary elections at 7:00 am Sunday, allowing 3.7 million eligible voters to cast their ballots for the first time in nearly a decade.
About 30,000 soldiers and security officers were on hand to preserve security and stability on Election Day.
Over a hundred observers from European Union countries, as well as Norway and Sweden, have also deployed around Lebanon, upon an invitation from the Lebanese government, to monitor and assess the voting.
Elena Valenciano, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission, said political parties in Lebanon are "really committed to have good elections."
Around 600 candidates are competing in 15 electoral districts for 128 parliamentary seats. In each district, the seats are distributed among the various religious sects present in that area.
They include a record number of women and civil society activists hoping to challenge established political parties and politicians.
The last time elections were held in Lebanon was in 2009. Since then, members of parliament have extended their terms twice, citing security threats linked to the war in neighboring Syria.
Sunday’s elections were the first under a new law based on proportional representation, which allows voters to choose one list of allied candidates, as well as a preferred candidate from among them, presented on pre-printed ballots.
There are a total of 77 lists running across Lebanon.
For the first time, Lebanese expatriates were also allowed to vote from abroad. Around 82,000 of those who had registered cast their ballots, ahead of the main election day in Lebanon.
The polls are set to close at 7:00 pm and unofficial results are expected to emerge overnight.
