Municipal and mukhtar elections in Beirut and the Beqaa began at 7 AM on Sunday.
The voting percentages reported so far are as follows:
Beirut: 12.39%
Baalbek: 28.92%
Hermel: 22.83%
Zahleh: 29.84%
Rashaya: 24.72%
Western Beqaa : 26.50%
Incidents and complaints
The elections were marked by a number of irregularities and incidents from the outset. To date, the number of complaints has reached 263, including 156 administrative complaints, 16 media complaints and one security-related complaint.
At the Al-Hikma Al-Qahtani school polling center, voters experienced difficulties to reach the ballot boxes, which were placed on the fourth and fifth floors, posing a great challenge for the elderly and the physically challenged.
In a number of polling stations, including room no. 4 at the Lycée Abdelkader in Beirut, room no. 5 at the Lycée Gibran Andraos Tueni in Beirut and room no. 2 at the Jawaher Al-Adab school in Arsal, the isolators were placed in an open manner that did not respect the secrecy of the vote, in clear violation of the principle of secret voting.
There was also a clash inside a voting center in the Beqaa town of Harbata, and the Lebanese army temporarily closed the center.
A dispute between two candidates for the municipal council in the town of Fakha turned into a clash between supporters of the two candidates, necessitating the intervention of the army to put an end to the dispute. The troublemaker was arrested, and the town's polling stations were closed for a time before being reopened, amid a low turnout.
Clashes broke out in Aisha Bakkar between supporters of the Al-Ahbash group and others affiliated with the "Beirut Btehebbak" list.
Meanwhile, unknown assailants opened fire on the electoral machine of the "Kamed El Loz for Development" list in the town of Kamed El Loz in West Bekaa.
A citizen sustained minor injuries. The army intervened and pursuied the shooters.
The An Nahar newspaper reported that several people, including two members of the Information Division, were injured when an Information Division patrol supported by a Lebanese army force raided a Hezbollah election office in Maallaqa, north of Zahleh, where around 15 young men, suspected of corruption, were present.
One of the injured young men recounted that the clash occurred when an information patrol raided what he described as a “transportation center”, adding that despite the cooperation of the young men who were present and showed evidence of the office's role, the patrol members beat them and when the army arrived, they were also beaten.
The security forces held them for a short time before releasing them.
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