Mashnouq Says Creation of Voter Cards, Pre-registration Dropped Due to Time Pressure

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced on Wednesday that suggestions to create magnetic voter cards and the pre-registration of voters for the upcoming parliamentary elections have been dropped due to lack of time.

Mashnouq's remarks came during the ministerial committee meeting tasked with supervising the polls scheduled in May 2018.

“In practice, the suggestion to create magnetic votes cards, the creation of a mega-centers and pre-registration for voters (who wish to cast ballots in their places of residency) have been dropped because of lack of time,” said Mashnouq.

Lebanon has set the date for the country's first parliamentary elections in nine years, scheduling the vote for May 6.

Last week, Mashnouq signed a decree setting the date. For the first time, Lebanese nationals living overseas will be able to cast ballots in early voting.

Lebanon's parliament has postponed elections several times over security reasons. Its term was supposed to expire in 2013 but lawmakers approved several extensions since then, the last one in June for another 11 months.

Activists accuse politicians of delaying the vote for political reasons.

The vote is expected to be a major test for both Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hizbullah party.

Hariri resigned last month but later revoked his resignation.