Two votes, one concern: Push for extra preferential vote sparks concern among Lebanon’s Christian parties

Report by Yazbek Wehbe, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

Under Lebanon’s current proportional electoral law, adopted in the 2018 and 2022 elections, each voter is allowed to vote for one list within their electoral district and give a preferential vote to one candidate on that list.

This system has largely satisfied Christian parties, as it allowed them to elect 54 out of 64 Christian MPs through Christian votes.

However, with 11 months remaining before the next election, some — particularly within the Hezbollah-Amal Movement political duo — are calling for a change: allowing voters to cast two preferential votes instead of one. 

This would permit voters to support two different candidates from the same list, potentially even from different sects.

This change would not affect the overall electoral threshold for the list, but it could influence which candidates are ultimately selected from it.

In districts where one sect or party holds a numerical advantage, that majority can issue voting instructions and effectively decide which candidates win seats on the list. This would reduce the chances of smaller sectarian or political minorities on the same list to elect their preferred candidates.

This is why Christian parties argue that adopting two preferential votes could harm their chances in mixed districts.

Still, there is broad agreement among political blocs that the current debate is more about jockeying for political advantage than serious reform. 

Most agree that Lebanon’s current situation does not allow for a fundamental change to the electoral law, aside from long-delayed technical reforms such as implementing megacenters and magnetic voting cards. 

A major point of contention remains whether expatriates will vote for all 128 members of Parliament or only for the six seats allocated to the diaspora.