A police officer observes the voting process in a public school in Hadath on May 4, 2025, the first day of the municipal elections. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient-Le Jour)
Several violations were reported during municipal elections in Mount Lebanon on Sunday, according to the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) and the Interior Ministry.
By 4 p.m., the ministry had received 12 complaints related to electoral corruption through calls to the central operations room overseeing the vote. The complaints were referred to the police for investigation. In Fanar, in the Metn district, the intelligence division of the Internal Security Forces arrested a citizen suspected of buying votes. The case was referred to the judicial brigade in Jdeideh, which opened an investigation.
LADE deployed dozens of observers across polling stations in the six districts of the Mount Lebanon governorate — Jbeil, Kesrouan, Metn, Baabda, Aley and Chouf. In a preliminary report issued around 3:30 p.m., the organization cited a range of violations, including delays in opening polling stations, lack of voting confidentiality, poor accessibility for voters with disabilities, and a “serious case in which a delegate from an electoral list replaced the head of a polling station in Haret Hreik,” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Baabda.
Voting outside booths, fights at polling stations
LADE also documented “multiple cases of voting outside the booth,” particularly in Barja, Ain Zhalta (both in Chouf) and Shaney (Aley). It noted altercations in or near polling stations, including a dispute in Aramoun (Aley) between a polling station head and a delegate; and physical fights in Haret Hreik, Barja, Bshamoun (Aley) and Hammana (Baabda) involving delegates, voters, or members of rival political families. In Bireh (Chouf), campaign materials were reportedly distributed illegally inside a polling station.
A separate incident occurred at the Ghadir (Kesrouan) polling station involving Juan Hobeiche, the outgoing president of the Jounieh municipality, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA). Security forces initially barred Hobeiche from entering because he is registered in Sahel Alma. He refused to leave and contacted Kesrouan district chief Sethrida Nabhan, who sought intervention from Mount Lebanon Gov. Mohammad Makkawi. The governor ultimately allowed Hobeiche to enter, NNA reported.
Earlier in the day, a brawl broke out at a polling station in Ghineh, in the Ftouh Kesrouan region, leaving one person with a minor nose injury.
Voters across Mount Lebanon’s six districts headed to the polls Sunday to elect new municipal councils. The previous councils, in place since 2016, have had their terms extended three times since 2022. About 333 municipal councils are being elected, along with numerous mukhtars, who handle citizens’ civil affairs.
Voting continues next Sunday, May 11, in North Lebanon, followed by the Bekaa and Beirut on May 18. The elections conclude May 24 in South Lebanon, where many villages have been heavily damaged by the ongoing war between Hezbollah and Israel.
