Date: Apr 30, 2018
Source: The Daily Star
Final polling station closes in first-ever Lebanon expat vote
BEIRUT: The last polling station closed Monday morning in the United States city of Los Angeles, the state-run National News Agency reported, bringing an end to the second and final round of a historic expat vote ahead of general elections next week.

Nearly 46,000 Lebanese living abroad cast their ballots in dozens of countries across the world Sunday, according to the latest count as of 8 a.m. Monday, local media quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying. Sunday’s vote comes two days after registered Lebanese voters in six Arab countries cast their ballots.

The two rounds of voting over the weekend represent the first time Lebanon has allowed expat citizens to vote in the elections.

Voter turnout, however, was lower Sunday in Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas than in the Arab world, with around 55 percent of 70,355 registered voters casting their ballots, according to the latest numbers available Monday morning Beirut time.