Tampering With The Lebanese Diaspora Votes Is Reportedly Difficult

Lebanon Elections Explained
961 News

On Wednesday, the Lebanese Sawti NGO shared on Instagram the measures and procedures taken regarding diaspora votes, assuring that tampering with the Lebanese diaspora votes is difficult.

Sawti (or my voice) is an NGO run by Impact Lebanon, which was born out of the Lebanese Revolution in the diaspora. It was launched to shed light on the democratic rights of the Lebanese citizens, informing and mobilizing them everywhere in the world, and encouraging them to vote.

According to the Sawti post, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), the diaspora ballot boxes were protected at the polling stations abroad by live cameras connected with the Ministry’s headquarters.

In addition, delegates from numerous candidates, as well as the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) representatives and independent supervisors were monitoring the ballots.

In Lebanon, about 120 volunteers from the Lebanese University, the European Union, the Arab League, and LADE supervisors were assigned to monitor the ballots upon their arrival in the country.

Adding that an election supervisory committee is administered to monitor all the electoral processes in Lebanon and abroad.

Upon the beginning of the diaspora voting between May 6th and 8th, people in Lebanon and the diaspora started sharing their mistrust regarding the Lebanese authorities and their handling of the elections, out of fear of possible tampering and transparency breaches.

That is despite the Lebanese authorities assuring that the process of protecting the ballots is planned, and the Foreign Minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, guaranteeing that the boxes contain GPS tracking devices and are sealed with red wax.

The Lebanese people are now getting ready for the big day on May 15th, intending to casting their votes despite concerns about possible clashes happening on Sunday.

Related: Here’s The Detailed List Of Who’s Running In The Lebanese Elections In 2022.