Lebanon prepares for 1st parliament vote in 9 years

BEIRUT – Polling stations employees in Lebanon have begun distributing thousands of ballot boxes ahead of the country’s first parliamentary elections in nine years.

The distribution began Saturday, a day before more than 3.6 million registered Lebanese voters are set to cast their ballots.

The vote, the first for a parliament since 2009, is also the first since Lebanon adopted a new election law last year. The law changed the previous winner-takes-all system to a complicated sectarian-based proportional representation which awards the number of seats by the share of vote received. There are more than 500 candidates running in 15 districts around the country for the 128-seat parliament.

All eyes are on whether the voting Sunday and the turnout can loosen the grip of an established political class on the country’s affairs.