A boy rides a bicycle next to posters of candidates in Lebanon's parliamentary elections, in Beirut, on May 6, 2022. (Credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections reported violations during election workers’ polling on Thursday, adding that it is “concerned about the elections as some polling station workers also work for electoral lists and parties, which raises questions about the impartiality of the elections on May 15, 2022.”
Here’s what we know:
• LADE recorded a violation in Saida when one voter put the ballot paper in his pocket and inserted an empty envelope in the box, before a delegate informed the head of the polling station who returned the voter to the polling booth to take the paper out of his pocket and vote in the correct way. There was no mention of whether or not the envelope was retrieved from the ballot box.
• Another violation was recorded when Michel Taoum, from the “Towards Citizenship” list, entered a polling station in Akkar and identified himself as “The Poor People's candidate.” An individual also walked in with the candidate and took pictures, even though the photographer did not have a license to do so. Candidates are prohibited from campaigning during the day of elections.
• LADE also posted observations of tensions on its Twitter account. Among these was an incident In a polling station in Hermel in the north of the country in which a quarrel broke out between voters over eligibility to enter.
• The polling process in Saida was stopped for four minutes due to a quarrel between the head of the polling station and a cameraman from the National Broadcasting Network who asked a voter to look at the camera as they were casting their vote, LADE also observed.
• There was tension in polling station No. 41 in Beiteddine when a group of voters, who got tired of waiting for a long time under the sun, started shouting at the security forces present.