Lebanese living abroad register to vote in crunch May elections
The number of Lebanese citizens abroad who are registered to vote in the country’s elections has tripled since 2018, the last time its people went to the polls.
The sharp rise has in part been attributed to efforts by civil society groups to encourage the diaspora to vote, said researchers from The Policy Initiatives Institute in collaboration with the Arab Reform Initiative.
More than 240,000 people are registered in their country of residence.
In Asia alone, the figure rose nearly five-fold – from 12,610 in 2018 to 56,610 this year. In Europe, the continent where the most registered voters are based, the number increased from 24,113 to 69,140.
The report says these numbers suggest “an increased interest of Lebanese abroad to participate in the electoral process, although whether those voters already resided outside the country or are recent emigrants is unknown”.
Amid a devastating economic crisis, many Lebanese have left the country.
The elections on May 15 will be the first since protests engulfed the country in October 2019 and the blast that struck Beirut’s port in August 2020, killing more than 200 people and wrecking large parts of the capital city.
Many Lebanese say government negligence and corruption were the root cause of the blast, which occurred when a warehouse storing volatile fertiliser chemicals caught fire.
What is not known is the extent to which Lebanese registered to vote abroad will shift their preferences towards opposition groups.
The demographic of those registered abroad remains unknown — for example, if they are first-time voters or if they have left Lebanon since the last election.
Diaspora votes went to “traditional” parties in 2018, with only 6 per cent backing those on opposition lists.
But while those who registered abroad represent only 6 per cent of eligible voters, they could still play an important role.
“The diaspora can also be a key ‘influencer’ on the voting behaviour of many who are in Lebanon,” the report said.