Electoral system for national legislature

Lebanon, Electoral Law (Law 44/2017, as amended in 2021) [English version of 2017 Law], accessed 27 April 2022

Article 1: The voting system and number of deputies

The Parliament is composed of 128 deputies elected for four years through a system of proportional representation. Elections shall be organized in one round and based on the principles of universal suffrage and secret ballot.

Article 2: Parliamentary seats and constituencies

a. The number and confessional distribution of parliamentary seats by constituency are determined according to the table attached to the present law (Appendix I) and shall be the basis for the nomination of candidates. The attached table is an integral part of the present law.

b. All voters of different confessions in the electoral constituency shall vote for the candidates of that constituency.

Article 98: The list-based voting and the preferential vote

1.Each voter is entitled to vote for one of the competing lists, and may as well give one preferential vote for a candidate from the minor-constituency and the same list they have voted for.

2.If no preferential vote is marked by the voter, the list vote remains valid and shall count. However, if the voter marks more than one preferential vote on the list, none of the preferential votes but only the list vote shall count.

3.If a voter votes for one list but give their preferential vote on another list or on the list of a minor constituency to which they do not belong, the preferential vote shall not count and only the list vote shall count.

4.If the voter does not vote for any list but marks one preferential vote on one list, the preferential vote and a list vote shall count.

Article 99: The proportional representation system

1.The number of seats obtained by each list is determined based on the electoral quotient.

2.The electoral quotient is obtained by dividing the number of the voters in each of the major constituencies by the number of seats to fill in each.

3.Lists that do not achieve the electoral quotient are excluded from the seat allocation, and the electoral quotient is re-calculated after deduction of the votes obtained by such lists.

4.The remaining seats are allocated, one after another, to the qualifying lists that have obtained the largest remainder after the first division, and this process is repeated in the same way until all the remaining seats have been filled. If one seat is remaining and two qualifying lists have an equal largest remainder, the seat shall be allocated to the list that had obtained the higher number of seats. And if both lists had obtained an equal number of seats, the remaining seat shall be allocated to the list whose first-placed candidate has obtained the higher percentage of preferential votes. And if the first-placed candidates of both lists have obtained equal percentages of preferential votes, the seat shall be allocated to the list whose second-placed candidate has obtained the higher percentage of preferential votes, and so forth.

5.After having determined the number of seats obtained by each qualifying list, the names of candidates shall be combined on one comprehensive list, in descending order on basis of the percentage of preferential votes obtained by each candidate either in their minor constituency or their constituency that is not composed of minor constituencies. The percentage of preferential votes obtained by each candidate is calculated by dividing the sum of preferential votes obtained by them by the total number of preferential votes obtained by the qualifying lists in the minor constituency or the constituency that is not composed of minor constituencies. If two candidates have equal percentages of preferential votes, the older candidate shall be placed higher on the list, and if both candidates are of the same age, the higher registration committee shall decide on the matter by drawing lots.

6.The allocation of seats to the winning candidates shall start from the top of the comprehensive list that contains the names of all candidates of various lists. Thus, the first seat is allocated to the candidate who has the highest percentage of preferential votes, and the second seat to the candidate ranked second on the comprehensive list, irrespective of the list of their nomination. The third and all subsequent seats are allocated in the same manner until all the seats of the constituency are allocated to the candidates of other qualifying lists.

7.The allocation of seats to candidate lists shall be subject to the following two conditions:

-The seat to be allocated should be vacant according to the confessional distribution of seats and/or seat distribution in the minor constituency, since after the share of seats of a given confession and/or minor constituency within the electoral constituency is filled, the remaining candidates of the same confession and/ or minor constituency are automatically removed from the competition.

-The list should not have filled its share of seats. When the seat allocation process reaches the name of a candidate who belongs to a list that has already filled its share of seats, the said candidate shall be skipped.