Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi’s media office issued the following statement:
“Some media sources and social media users are discussing whether the Interior Minister will issue a decision extending the voting session beyond 7:00 p.m. He had already taken this step during the 2018 national legislative elections.

The media office of the Interior Minister would like to clarify the following:

1 – Article 97 of the election law stipulates that the registrar must announce the end of the polling process at 7:00 pm, unless there are voters present in the polling center’s courtyard who have not yet cast their votes, at which point the period will be extended until they are able to vote. This incident is in the polling station’s report, and accordingly, it is limited to extending the voting only in the event that there are voters present in the polling station courtyard, where the entrance leading to the center courtyard is closed by the internal security forces responsible for maintaining security inside the center until they are able to vote.

2 – There was no previous decision, especially in the parliamentary elections that took place in 2018, regarding the extension of the voting period, contrary to the provisions of Article 97 above.”