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Local elections were held in 20 municipalities inLibya in March and April 2019.[1][2][3][4] The LibyanCentral Commission of Municipal Council Elections aimed for a total of elections in 68 municipalities in 2019.[2] With difficulties in organising elections related to the2019–20 Western Libya campaign, the elections were not completed in 2019; they continued in 2020,[5][6] with elections to at least 30 additional councils planned for 2021.[7]
Of the 120 local councils that were created in 2013, the LibyanCentral Commission of Municipal Council Elections (CCMCE), headed by Salem Bentahia as of March 2019[update], is responsible for elections in the 92 municipalities which successfully held elections with legally confirmed results during 2014–2015, and inZawiya,Bani Walid and Dirj, in which the CCMCE held elections in 2018.[1][8]
Local elections were held in nine municipalities in southern and western Libya, includingZuwarah, on Saturday 30 March 2019, with an overall participation rate of 38 percent.[1][2]
Elections were held in 11 municipalities in April. On Saturday 20 April, local elections were held in Brak al-Shati, Edri al-Shati, al-Rahibat,Ubari, al-Garda al-Shati, al-Shwairif, andZaltan.Ghassan Salamé, head ofUnited Nations Support Mission in Libya, complimented Libyans for holding these elections despite the2019 Western Libya offensive.[2] On Saturday 27 April, municipal elections were held inSabha.[3] Elections that had been planned forSabratha andSurman on the same day were postponed by theLibyan National Army.[3] Other towns in which municipal elections were held around these dates includedWadi Otbh, al-Ghuraifa, and Riqdalin.[4]
Four appeals against the results of the Sabha election resulted in the election being declared invalid in a judicial ruling. In early November 2019, Judge Ibrahim Mahfouz in the Court of First Instance of Sabha overturned three of the appeals. A single judicial circuit can only consider three appeals on a case in the Libyan judicial system,[9] whose top body is theSupreme Judicial Council of Libya, which remained unified during theSecond Libyan Civil War.[10]
Voter registration bySMS was reopened by the CCMCE on 14 May forMisrata, Sabratha,al-Khums,Msallata,Jufra,Tarhuna, southernZawiya,Kufra,Ghat, and eight municipalities in theNafusa Mountains, includingAsbi'a, Al-Haraba,Kikla,Kabaw.[11]
In mid-August 2020, municipal elections were held inGhat, the first Libyan local elections for 2020.[5][6]
Municipal elections were planned to be held on 25 August 2020 inTraghan. A militia affiliated with theLibyan National Army (LNA) prevented the election from taking place.[6]
The electedSabha council was restored to power in August 2020 following a court decision. TheGovernment of National Accord (GNA) had earlier replaced the elected Sabha council by a temporary council.[6]
On 2 September 2020, plans for the CCMCE to hold municipal elections with local community support in 15 municipalities in the LNA-controlled (eastern) part of Libya, includingDerna andAl Qubbah, were announced inBenghazi by CCMCE spokesperson Khaled Younis.[12]
Elections were held inMisrata on 3 September with CCMCE support.[13]
On 23 September, residents ofGharyan protested, calling for a municipal election to be held.[14]
Elections for the municipal councils ofAl-Haraba,Jadu,Kabaw andZawiya in western Libya were planned for 15 October.[15]
Municipal elections inar-Rajban andZawiya were held on 21 December 2020.[16]
The first four council elections of 2021 occurred on 7 January in the cities ofGasr Akhyar andZliten, as well as for theTripoli municipalities of Hay al-Andalus and Swani Bin Adam.[7]
On 11 January the first municipal elections of the electoral cycle took place in eastern Libya, to the councils ofAwjila,Jalu, andJikharra.[citation needed]
Voting continued on 23 January in the Tripoli suburb ofGarabulli and a re-run in two precincts of Swani Bin Adam.[17]
