“On 16 August, the High National Elections Commission (HNEC) announced that voting had begun that morning to elect 26 municipal councils out of the original 63 municipal councils that were due to be elected under the second round of elections.
HNEC explained that although most municipalities had completed the required stages to enter the voting stage, attacks on several electoral offices in the western coastal region in the days leading up to the election meant voting had been postponed until 23 August in 7 municipalities – Zawiyya Central, Zawiyya Middle, Zawiyya North, Zawiyya West, Surman, Sabratha and Bir al-Ghanem.
In addition, HNEC said that the Government of National Stability (GNS) had issued instructions for security agencies under the control of the Libyan National Army (LNA) to suspend the electoral process in 27 municipalities in eastern and southern Libya, preventing the commission from including them in the voting process on this day. HNEC explained that it had already suspended voting in 13 municipalities in late July (11 of which are in LNA-controlled areas), and that on the evening of 15 August, the eastern authorities had issued instructions to halt voting in a further 16 municipalities. HNEC said it does not have any information or indications about the possibility of resuming the voting process in these locations.
HNEC warned that the attacks that targeted the electoral process in general, and the electoral offices in particular, are ‘not merely an expression by groups with positions on the electoral process in their municipalities. Rather, they represent an agenda espoused by the forces of darkness and instability; those who see it in their interest to marginalize the people and exclude them from decision-making circles.’ Despite this, HNEC said that the participation rates witnessed in the various stages of the electoral process in this round and the previous round are ‘encouraging and clearly indicate a rising level of awareness among citizens and their understanding of the importance of participating through peaceful and civilized means.’ It added that although the environment in which the electoral process is being conducted is less than ideal and carries many risks, challenges, and misinformation campaigns, what has been achieved in this regard is a success by all standards.
Once voting had closed on 16 August, HNEC issued preliminary statistics on the voting, saying 161,684 people had voted, representing 71% of registered voters – not all eligible voters. The following day, HNEC said that the announcement of the preliminary results would be within a maximum of 21 days – so by 6 September.