More than 51,500 expatriates registered for legislative elections, eight days before the registration deadline

Eight days before the registration deadline on Nov. 20, Lebanon's Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs announced Wednesday that 51,685 applications have so far been registered via the Foreign Ministry’s electronic platform, with a view to participating in the parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2026.

It is still unclear whether expatriates will vote for all 128 MPs or only for a dedicated 16th district, a question that has deeply divided the political class and has fueled fears of a postponement of the ballot. The current electoral law limits expatriates' votes to just six seats in the 2026 parliamentary elections, instead of the 128 seats Lebanese residents vote for.

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"As part of the ongoing preparations for the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Ministries of Interior and Municipalities and of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates announce that as of Nov. 12, 2025, 51,685 applications have been registered via the electronic platform of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates," said a joint statement from the two institutions.

"Of these applications, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities has received 41,957, which are currently being verified and compared with the electoral lists," the statement added.

The two ministries are asking expatriates to register their applications before the deadline in order to assert their constitutional right to vote. "As the registration deadline, set for Nov, 20, approaches, the two ministries invite Lebanese not residing on national territory and wishing to participate in the electoral process to register their applications before the deadline, in order to assert their constitutional right to vote," the statement concluded.

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The most recent developments in the matter date back to Nov. 6. Meeting at the Presidential Palace in Baabda with President Joseph Aoun, the Cabinet decided to send to Parliament a draft law marked as urgent and providing for the suspension of Article 112 of the electoral law, which limits the vote of Lebanese abroad to only six seats for the 2026 election.

The ball is now in the court of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who refuses to place an electoral law amendment on the agenda, as his camp (the Amal-Hezbollah alliance) opposes expanding the expatriate vote. By contrast, the Lebanese Forces, the Kataeb and some Sunni MPs are campaigning for the diaspora to have the right to vote for all 128 MPs.