Lebanon’s complex electoral structure was designed to achieve a balance in ensuring political representation for the country’s different religious groups.  With the exception of the period during the 1974-1989 civil war, multi-party elections have been held regularly since the 1920s. The most recent parliamentary elections were held in June 2009 and local elections took place in May 2010.

The 128 seats of the Lebanese Parliament are reserved for candidates from eleven specific confessions (religious groups), with an equal division between Muslims and Christians.  Under the current Election Law, adopted in 2008, the country is divided into 26 multi-member electoral districts; seats are won by the candidate/s with the highest number of votes for the available seats for their confession in a district (the ‘Block Vote’ system).  For a detailed review of the Lebanese electoral system, please see this 2009 IFES briefing paper.

Elections in Lebanon are administered by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (MOIM), currently headed by Minister Ziyad Baroud, a non-partisan politician who has played a leading advocacy role for electoral reform over recent years. Full information on the electoral work of the MOIM can be found at www.elections.gov.lb.

There are widespread calls for electoral reform in Lebanon.  The 2008 Election Law introduced many key improvements to the legal framework, such as campaign spending limits, regulations on media coverage and guarantees for election observation and access for persons with disabilities.  In addition, the MOIM initiated several measures to improve transparency and voter participation.  This led to generally positive observer reports on the conduct of the 2009 elections (see reports from the Lebanese Transparency Association, the National Democratic Institute and the European Union observer groups).

Nevertheless, there remain many areas where politicians and civil society alike are actively campaigning for further and significant electoral reforms.  These include: (i) the adoption of proportional representation (ii) the introduction of standardized ballots (iii) the lowering of the voting age from 21 to 18 years (iv) improved opportunities for women candidates through the adoption of a gender quota (v) the establishment of an Independent Election Commission.  These reforms were proposed in 2006 by the National Commission on the Electoral Law. 

IFES has been working in Lebanon since 2005 to support the process of electoral reform and to improve the conduct of elections.  Currently, IFES runs two projects in Lebanon, the ‘Compact for Elections and Democratic Assistance and Reform II’ and ‘Support to the Electoral Process in Lebanon’. IFES recently completed the Lebanese Election Violence Risk Assessment Project.  In addition, the Lebanon office is engaged with the regional program ‘Status of Women in Middle East and North Africa’ that also includes Morocco and Yemen.