With the last hours left to register, over 137,000 applications already recorded

The Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs announced Thursday that more than 137,000 registration applications from Lebanese residing abroad to participate in the May 2026 parliamentary elections have already been recorded via the Foreign Ministry’s online platform.

In a joint statement, the two ministries specified that 87,720 of these applications have already been transferred to the Ministry of Interior, where they are "being verified." They reminded that the registration deadline is Thursday, Nov. 20, and urged Lebanese living outside the country to "register quickly before the deadline expires, to ensure their participation in the election."

Voters wishing to register online can do so at the following address: https://diasporavote.mfa.gov.lb.

On Monday, President Joseph Aoun signed a decree transmitting to Parliament a draft law aimed at amending the electoral law, particularly concerning the modalities of expatriate voting. Marked as a double-emergency, this draft law is expected to be immediately examined by the chamber without going through parliamentary committees.

Approved by the Cabinet on Nov. 6, the draft law notably provides for the suspension of Article 112 of the electoral law (44/2017) to allow Lebanese abroad to vote for candidates running in all 128 districts of the home country, instead of limiting their choice to six seats, as stipulated by the current article.

The text also proposes postponing the deadline for expatriate registration to Dec. 31, so they can take part in the election. Under the law currently in force, this deadline is supposed to expire Thursday, Nov. 20 at midnight (Beirut time).

The question of emigrant voting is at the center of an intense standoff between various political factions.

Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri categorically refuses to include any amendment of the electoral law on the agenda of any plenary session. His camp (the Amal-Hezbollah tandem) opposes expanding expatriate voting, while, on the other side, the Lebanese Forces (LF), the Kataeb and their anti-Hezbollah allies, as well as the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), are pushing for the diaspora to be able to vote for all members of parliament.