Mohammed Ertima and Rania Abu Shamala
18 October 2025•Update: 19 October 2025
TRIPOLI, Libya/ISTANBUL
The Libyan High National Elections Commission (HNEC) announced Saturday the end of the voting process and the start of ballot counting in elections for 16 municipal councils under the third phase of municipal elections.
“Polling centers closed at exactly 6:00 pm local time (1600GMT),” the HNEC said in a statement
It added that “the preliminary number of voters recorded after the closure of polling centers reached 63,169, representing an initial turnout of 68%.”
It noted that “the electoral process proceeded in an orderly and secure manner across the targeted municipalities, with polling centers adhering to approved procedures and productive cooperation among supporting institutions.”
The HNEC confirmed that it is closely monitoring the reconciliation, sorting, and counting process inside polling centers of the municipalities where elections were held.
Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah hailed the resumption of municipal elections, saying they prove Libyans “can practice democracy efficiently.”
He stressed that the same conditions enabling local polls also “allow for national elections without a new transitional phase.”
The HNEC said earlier that voting began in the morning in the 16 municipalities included in the third phase of the elections, and will continue until 6 pm local time (1600GMT).
About 96,000 registered voters are eligible to vote at 142 polling centers, including 341 voting stations, to elect 743 candidates using a mixed system that combines lists and individual candidacies, according to the HNEC.
A total of 26,311 voters had cast ballots by 2 pm local time, representing an initial turnout of around 30%, the HNEC reported.
On Nov. 16, 2024, the HNEC completed the first phase of municipal elections covering 58 out of 143 municipalities.
The second phase took place Aug. 16 and 23, involving 33 municipalities out of an intended 49, but elections in 16 municipalities were postponed due to security concerns. Those have now been incorporated into the third phase, which began Saturday.
The remaining municipalities in the third phase are scheduled to hold elections on Oct. 20.
Local elections in Libya are being conducted in stages due to the varying expiry dates of municipal councils’ mandates, with councils whose terms have ended added to the next electoral schedule.
The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) welcomed the resumption of the electoral process, praising the agreement reached between the commission and relevant authorities to complete the municipal elections, describing it as a step toward restoring the legitimacy of local governance institutions.
UNSMIL also urged all registered voters to exercise their democratic right and participate in the polls.
Libya remains divided between two rival administrations: the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity led by Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, which controls the west, and another appointed by the House of Representatives in 2022, led by Osama Hammad and based in Benghazi, which governs the east and much of the south.
Libyans hope that the municipal elections will pave the way for long-delayed parliamentary and presidential elections, helping to end the years-long split and political deadlock over legitimacy.
