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US elections: Lesson Learned for Lebanon

About the Author

Ibrahim Jouhari is a Senior Analyst in the International Affairs Unit of the Former Prime Minister of Lebanon, Mr. Saad Hariri. In this role, Mr. Jouhari offers his expertise and knowledge on international issues and acts as a liaison to the international diplomatic corps, think tanks, and NGOs.

US elections: Lesson Learned for Lebanon

The new US president has been elected, sworn in, and his new administration is up and running. After an ‘eventful’ election night that stretched into a week, a long counting period, unending litigations, ending with an attack on the US capitol. Personally, it was very interesting to follow the electoral process, from polling to projections, the ups and downs that accompanied the elections, and the inner working of a modern democracy, and how it resists authoritarian creep. What made it even more captivating was how the elections results and a new US administration will impact Lebanon, the region, and the world.

This series of articles will try to apply the lessons learned from the US elections to Lebanon’s upcoming 2022 parliamentary elections! The first article will explore the importance of improving turnout by making it easier to vote, while at the same time ensuring a fast and transparent electoral process to increase legitimacy and fairness while decreasing any rejection of the results and possible violence! The second article will discuss three additional aspects that I observed during the US elections that could be applied to Lebanon, focusing on increasing youth and women participation in all the different aspects of the electoral process, from running and organizing campaigns, to candidacy, voting, and the counting process.