Qifa Nabki | A Lebanese Political Blog

It’s a little bit cheeky to have another post on the meaninglessness of proposed electoral reforms when we just got done discussing lowering the voting age, but I think this is worth discussing. ElectionGuerilla makes the point succinctly:

It’s helpful if we recognize that many of the arguments related to the debate on electoral reform stem purely from… political self-interest. As much as anything, the issue of expat voting shows this.

The argument is that expat voting would ensure ’sectarian balance’.

First: Numbers. The voter register already includes all the citizens who have the right to vote, whether they are resident here or not. No new expat voters will be added unless Lebanon changes its citizenship laws.

Second: Impact. Under the current electoral system, or any new system that uses ‘regional districts, I would argue that expat voting – like lowering the voting age – will have limited confessional impact on the results. Christian expats will cast ballots for the districts where they are already registered and, in most cases, will have the chance only to vote for Christian MPs; something similar applies to Muslim expats. There are only a few areas that are sufficiently ‘multi-confessional’ that expat voting (like voting age) could conceivably make a confessional difference.

In fact, the major impact of allowing expat voting is that it would probably increase voter turnout in districts where a sizeable proportion of the electorate lives overseas. And this is the key: increasing voter turnout has a major impact on the “intra-confessional” politics of Lebanon. The reason why LF wants expat voting is not just that they simply want Christians to vote: they believe that expat voting allows their party to have a better chance of winning more votes than their opponents in Christian districts. That’s also why Kateab want it. That’s also why FPM wants it. And that’s also why Amal, Hezbollah and Future MPs – also parties with large constituencies overseas – supported the idea when it was debated in parliament in 2008.

Experiences of expat voting around the world shows that it is established or radicalized parties who benefit most from it, rather than independent or non-affiliated candidates, whose popularity usually rests on their local reputation in a community. This is especially the case if the parties have organized structures overseas, as do all Lebanese parties.

That doesn’t mean I think expat voting is a bad idea. I support it, especially if it ensure all Lebanese citizens get the right to vote. It’s just that i’d prefer to see some more logic and honesty in the wider political debate and not just on this blog.

Meanwhile, another reader, Ghassan Karam, points to an important feature of the proposed law to allow expats to vote: the fact that they will be required to vote in person at embassies and consulates:

المادة 104:

يحق لكل لبناني غير مقيم على الأراضي اللبنانية أن يمارس حق الاقتراع في السفارات والقنصليات اللبنانية وفقاً لأحكام هذا القانون، شرط أن يكون اسمه وارداً في القوائم الانتخابية وأن لا يكون ثمة مانع قانوني يحول دون حقه في الاقتراع.

المادة 110:

يجري الاقتراع في الخارج قبل عشرة أيام على الأكثر من الموعد المعين للإنتخابات في لبنان، حسب الدوائر الإنتخابية المعنية، بواسطة ظروف مصمَّغة غير شفافة من نموذج واحد تعتمدها وزارة الداخلية والبلديات وممهورة بخاتمها.

تفتح صناديق الاقتراع من الساعة السابعة صباحاً وحتى الساعة العاشرة ليلاً.

يوقع رئيس القلم الظرف ويسلمه إلى الناخب بعد أن يتحقق من هويته وورود إسمه على القائمة الإنتخابية.

يقترع الناخب بواسطة بطاقة الهوية اللبنانية أو جواز سفره اللبناني العادي الصالح.

يلزم الناخب بدخول المعزل ويضع في الظرف ورقة واحدة تشتمل على أسماء المرشحين الذين يريد انتخابهم ويضع بيده الظرف في صندوق الاقتراع.

يثبت اقتراع الناخب بتوقيعه أو بوضع بصمته وتوقيع أحد أعضاء قلم الاقتراع بجانب إسمه على لائحة الشطب الخاصة بكل عملية إنتخابية.

In the case of the United States, this will mean that if you don’t live in Washington, New York, or Los Angeles, you’ll have to travel to one of those cities to cast a vote. (Which, given the traffic in Lebanon these days, may not take as long as traveling to your ‘ancestral village’ from Beirut).