Election posters can be seen at almost all Tripoli roundabouts and intersections (Photo: Seraj Essul)
The High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) says that all the polling centres are now ready for tomorrow’s vote with all material and equipment in place.
Speaking at press conference this evening, member of the HNEC board Abdulhakim Al- Shahab told reporters that 1,626 election centres with 4,467 polling stations were ready for the poll including 196 voting stations for the disabled.
Additionally, Al-Shahab said, there were a number of polling stations for the Libyans unable to vote in their own districts. There were 18 polling stations for displaced people, mainly the Tawergha, and 19 for oil field workers.
Shahab confirmed that polling stations would open tomorrow on 8 am and remain until 8 pm. Some 30,000 trained HNEC officials and volunteers would be operating the polling stations and providing all necessary assistance to voters.
For his part, HNEC chairman Emad Al-Sayeh laid stress on the need for candidates to keep stringent financial reports. All candidates, regardless of whether they win or lose, were obliged to submit a report of their campaign expenses with 15 days of the vote, otherwise they could be sentenced to a year in jail and/or a fine of LD 5,000 and banned from standing to elections for five years. Those who won could be deprived of their seats.
Asked about the security arrangements in Benghazi, Sayeh told this newspaper that “all possible procedures were being undertaken in cooperation with all the government security bodies including Benghazi Join Security Room”.
Seraj Essul & Moutaz Ali
