What the second municipal elections mean for Libya's future

The High National Election Commission (HNEC) has once again proven that it can handle the technical and logistical operations of conducting an election, but it remains unable to manage local spoilers and armed actors who oppose threats to their power.

While HNEC may be capable of scaling up its operations to a national level, it will require the backing of a new unified Libyan government and strong support from the international community in order to succeed.

Despite setbacks, elections are possible, and Libyans have shown that they want to vote and that they want national elections as soon as possible.

What defines success

On a technical level, the second round of municipal elections organized by the HNEC on August 16 were a success. In the 26 participating municipalities, there was a preliminary voter turnout rate of 71%. In active polling places, there were no signs of physical violence or disruptions to the voting process.

Overall, it was an impressive day that both the HNEC and the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) declared a success.

However, the original plan included around 60 municipalities, but various security and political issues over the past two months forced the HNEC to remove multiple towns and cities from participation, with many having their elections postponed just days before the election.

Although there was no violence on election day itself, in the days leading up to the vote, the HNEC faced serious incidents. Its offices were burned in the towns of Zawiya and Ajilat, and unknown armed men attacked the HNEC building in Zliten. This marked a significant escalation in violence that had not occurred during the first round of municipal elections.