No Result
View All Result
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
23 °c
Tripoli
24 ° Sat
24 ° Sun
  • Advertising
  • Contact
LibyaHerald
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
SUBSCRIBE
  • Home
  • Libya
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Magazine
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Register
No Result
View All Result
LibyaHerald
No Result
View All Result
Home Libya

A look at elections abroad: voting in London

bythomwestcott
February 19, 2014
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
A look at elections abroad: voting in London

Ballot boxes at the Libyan embassy in London (Photo: Tom Westcott)

By Tom Westcott.

Voters dip their fingers in ink that lasts (Photo: Tom Westcott)
Voters dipped their fingers in ink that stains the skin for several days to ensure no-one voted twice (Photo: Tom Westcott)

London, 18 February 2014:

Over the past three days, Libyans living abroad have been casting their votes in the elections . . .[restrict]for the Constitutional Drafting Committee. In London, two rooms of the Libyan embassy were transformed into a voting centre, with lists of candidates and numbers in one room and the voting booths and boxes in another.

A bilingual team from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), tasked with running the elections by HNEC, were on hand to welcome Libyan voters and explain the procedures.

“The IOM was recruited by HNEC for the second time, after successful elections for the General National Congress (GNC) in July 2012,” Libyan national advisor to the IOM, Salem El-Maiar, told the Libya Herald. Although UN-associated, the IOM is a independent organisation, and supervising and implementing out-of-country voting (OCV) is one area it covers.

RELATED POSTS

Libyan Business Fair to be held on 20 November in London

IOM organises YESS Programme job fairs in Tripoli and Sebha

Lists of candidate names and numbers (Photo: Tom Westcott)
Lists of candidate names and numbers (Photo: Tom Westcott)

One of the successes of this year’s OCV was to create more voting centres. Before the elections, the HNEC head Nuri Elabbar contacted Maiar to ask how OCV could be improved this time around. “I told them it was essential to have a centre for our large ex-patriate community in Manchester, to take the pressure off people to travel to cast their votes,” he said. “I also requested centres in Egypt and Tunisia where, last time around, ex-patriates in that country were denied the tight to vote.”

Both suggestions were taken on board and, in the UK, Libyans were able to vote in two places – London and Manchester, with an additional centre in Ireland.

A total of 832 Libyans voted across the UK and Ireland, fewer than half the number registered. London had the lowest turn-out, with 232 of the 756 registered voting – around 38 percent. In Manchester and Dublin, turnout was just under 50 percent. Of the 1,052 registered in Manchester, 485 actually voted and, of the 297 registered in Ireland, 115 voted.

The low turn-out was, in part, put down to terrible weather in the UK, where flooding has caused severe delays to much public transport. Wide dissatisfaction with the performance of the GNC was also cited. Some Libyans said they were disillusioned by the previous system where some candidates who had listed themselves as independent turned out to be affiliated to a political party, Maiar said. “I had to explain that this was a different system.”

Despite the disappointing figures, the mood at the Libyan embassy in London yesterday was jubilant, both amongst both the IOM staff and Libyans arriving to vote.

A number of people hoping to cast their vote who had either not registered at all or not registered in London, came to the embassy. “Not everyone who turned up was able to vote because they did not follow the correct mechanisms,” Maiar said. Two people who had registered in Libya but found they would not be able to get back by the 20 February arrived optimistically only to be told the system did not allow them to cast their ballot there. “This is disappointing,” one said. “I hope they extend the voting period so I can vote when I’m back in Tripoli.”

Elections staff from the IOM (Photo: Tom Westcott)
Election staff from the IOM, with Libyan national advisor to the IOM, Salem El-Maiar, in the centre (Photo: Tom Westcott)

Libyan ambassador to London, Mahmud Nacua, was the first to cast his vote, at 8am on 15 February.

“This is a good step for Libya in the basics of democracy,” he said. “This is the first time Libyans inside and outside the country have been able to go to a polling station to elect a committee to write a draft of the constitution in a democratic way.”

He added that Libyans were experiencing a new kind of freedom, choosing people to represent them, with no-one exerting any pressure on them to choose certain names – something not possible for 42 years. “This full freedom is the main achievement since the revolution,” Nacua said.

Ex-patriate Libyans had been closely following events in Libya, including the demonstrations against the GNC, he said. GNC head Nuri AbuSahmain’s announcement that there would be elections for a new assembly, he said, demonstrated how democracy worked, when the weight of public opinion could alter directions taken and provide a chance to correct mistakes and learn from these.

“We are still facing challenges and difficulties and I think we will overcome these, but we need time” Nacua said. “Time is crucial to make changes and we can’t expect to solve all problems in just a few years.”

The counting of ballots will take place on Thursday 20 February, the day of the elections in Libya. “All the 13 countries where OCV has taken place have been given a head-start and, once the counting has been finalised, the results will be sent to HNEC to be incorporated into its main results,” said Maiar.

Ballot boxes at the Libyan embassy in London (Photo: Tom Westcott)
Ballot boxes at the Libyan embassy in London (Photo: Tom Westcott)
[/restrict]

Tags: featuredHNECIOMLibyalondonUKvoting abroad

Related Posts

ACA reveals 94,000 cases of state sector salary duplication in 2015
Libya

Three Fisheries officials temporarily suspend from work by Administrative Control Authority suspected of corruption

July 15, 2025
ACA reveals 94,000 cases of state sector salary duplication in 2015
Libya

ACA saves LD 409 million on school textbook printing, suspends Tripoli Education Ministry’s Textbook Warehouse Manager

July 15, 2025
Attorney General orders arrests at Jumhouria bank branch for embezzlement
Libya

Attorney General provides update on investigation of incidents resulting from Tripoli 2025 armed clashes and demonstrations

July 11, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

Aldabaiba seeking long term partnership not interim solutions on combatting irregular migration

July 10, 2025
Acting Interior Minister Trabelsi taking steps to counter forged ID numbers and passports
Libya

There are 4 million irregular migrants in Libya: Interior Minister Trabelsi

July 10, 2025
GNU to take oath at Benghazi HoR session and budget to be approved at Tripoli session: GNU
Libya

Aldabaiba: Militias have become criminal gangs and a state within the state

July 9, 2025
Next Post

Second attack on Alaseema TV in a week

Maltese IT company recognised for investment in Libya

ADVERTISEMENT

Top Stories

  • Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund signs contract with Turkey’s Ankamenia for maintenance of Benghazi University’s medical colleges

    Libya Development and Reconstruction Fund signs contract with Turkey’s Ankamenia for maintenance of Benghazi University’s medical colleges

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • China to resume implementation of its stalled railways projects in Libya

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Libyan olive oils win gold at Anatolian, Berlin and Japan 2025 international olive oil competitions

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • There are 4 million irregular migrants in Libya: Interior Minister Trabelsi

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • BP to reopen office in Libya, Shell discusses prospects for cooperation in oil field development‎

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
ADVERTISEMENT
LibyaHerald

The Libya Herald first appeared on 17 February 2012 – the first anniversary of the Libyan Revolution. Since then, it has become a favourite go-to source on news about Libya, for many in Libya and around the world, regularly attracting millions of hits.

Recent News

Three Fisheries officials temporarily suspend from work by Administrative Control Authority suspected of corruption

UK Minister visits Tripoli – agreement signed to improve quality of English teaching at Libyan educational establishments

Sitemap

  • Why subscribe?
  • Terms & Conditions
  • FAQs
  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights
  • Subscribe now

Newsletters

    Be the first to know latest important news & events directly to your inbox.

    Sending ...

    By signing up, I agree to our TOS and Privacy Policy.

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password? Sign Up

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    *By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Login
    • Sign Up
    • Libya
    • Business
    • Advertising
    • About us
    • BusinessEye Magazine
    • Letters
    • Features
    • Why subscribe?
    • FAQs
    • Contact

    © 2022 LibyaHerald - Powered by Sparx Solutions.

    This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.