2018 Lebanese general election

General elections were held in Lebanon on 6 May 2018. Although originally scheduled for 2013, the election was postponed three times in 2013, 2014 and 2017 for various reasons, including the security situation, the failure of the Parliament to elect a new President, and the technical requirements of holding an election. A new electoral law adopted in 2017 provides a proportional representation system for the first time.

Following the last parliamentary election of 2009, it took several months to form a new government. Saad Hariri eventually became prime minister in a March 14 Alliance government formed in November 2009. About a year later, Walid Jumblatt's PSP broke away from the alliance and withdrew its ministers. Jumblatt then traveled to Syria for the first time in decades and met President Bashar al-Assad. After the government fell over the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, a new government was formed by Najib Mikati that consisted of March 8 Alliance parties, as well as the PSP.

Over the course of the Syrian civil war, fissures started to grow in Lebanon as 14 March parties supported the opposition in Syria while 8 March parties were ostensibly supportive of the Syrian government, particularly in the early stages. The 8 March parties therefore faced accusation from the opposition and its affiliated media of kowtowing to the Syrian government. As the Syrian conflict started to spill over into Lebanon, both via refugees and Lebanon's own diverse demographics that are broadly reflective of Syria's own diversity, tensions started to grow. A spate of sectarian kidnappings and threats followed, some of which turned fatal.

On 22 March 2013, Mikati resigned, citing a negative climate over the appointment of a committee to oversee the election and the Internal Security Forces (ISF) head Ashraf Rifi, who was expected to retire in April, continuing in the position. On 5 April, a new 14 March Alliance-backed consensus candidate for prime minister was announced, Tammam Salam.

A new president should have been elected by Parliament before the legislative elections took place. However, there was a deadlock which resulted in fourteen fruitless attempts to choose a head of state. Therefore, Parliament decided on 5 November 2014 to extend its term by 2 years and 7 months. The deadlock was perceived to arise from failure to reach quorum due to the voluntary absence of members from the ex- 8 March alliance. ^{[citation needed]}

In June 2017 a new electoral law was passed. The previous system (under which the 128 members of parliament were elected from 26 multi-member constituencies under multiple non-transferable vote, and the candidates with the highest number of votes within each religious community were elected) with a new electoral law instituting proportional representation in 15 multi-member constituencies while still maintaining the confessional distribution. However, the 7 out of the 15 of the electoral districts are divided into 2 or more 'minor districts' (largely corresponding to the smaller electoral districts from the old electoral law). Where applicable, preference vote is counted on the 'minor district' level.

Individuals could submit their candidacy for parliament until midnight of 6 March 2018. 976 candidates were registered, including 111 women. Candidates were obliged to join lists, which had to be finalized by 26 March 2018.

The Shia electorate constituted the majority of registered voters in Bekaa III, South II and South III, together accounting for 79% of the total Shia electorate.