On Wednesday, Libya’s High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) announced that about seven thousand Libyans abroad have registered to vote in the upcoming elections.
HNEC decided to extend the voters’ registration date for Libyans abroad to 17 September, due to the high turnout for registration. Elections are due to be held on 24 December.
HNEC’s Head, Emad Al-Din Al-Sayeh said the Commission has adopted new measures to prevent electoral fraud in the elections. He added that they will start issuing electoral cards to voters, and stressed that they must be handed over to their intended owners.
“It would be a very huge logistical operation, even more complicated than updating the voter registration system, as it is a sensitive and accurate process, and the entire electoral process depends on it,” Al-Sayeh explained.
He described the step as a new development for the electoral process in Libya. He emphasized the need for every voter to collect their electoral card “to ensure that his vote is not falsified, as was the case in the previous elections.”