Interior Minister Ziad Baroud urged Lebanese on Saturday to vote in Sunday’s elections. He said security measures have been taken to ensure voters’ safety and that the election results will be released as soon as possible.

“I vow to announce the official election results as soon as they reach the Interior Ministry and this will end the ministry’s role regarding the elections,” he said during a press conference.

He added that he had a relationship of trust with all political groups.

Baroud expressed his concern about the possible use of fraudulent identification documents. He affirmed that the ministry had decided to use passports and identity cards as official documents at polling stations because they were more difficult to forge.

“Using forged IDs is a criminal act with a prison penalty,” he stated.
He said the Interior Ministry had met with polling station workers and explained the many details on identity cards which demonstrated if the document was forged.

“The cedar on the top of the ID card is a hologram, which will change color when turned or put to the light. This cannot be forged through Photoshop or any other program. It is the best way to discover fake IDs,” he said, noting that the ministry had also provided all districts with machines to discover the authenticity of IDs.

He affirmed that it is not possible for any forgeries have been made from the Interior Ministry’s machines.

“The left thumb should be dipped in the special fingerprint ink all the way to base of the bottle to make sure that the ink cannot be erased,” he said.

Baroud also noted that some media organizations have not abided by the electoral law and have been referred to the publication court by the Supervisory Commission on the Electoral Campaign.

“The army commander has clarified how the LAF will deal with security breaches. The security plan does not end on Election Day. We have great trust in the army and the ISF,” he affirmed.

Baroud also said if his ministry had decided to use the pre-made voting cards, which include the candidates’ name, picture and a check box, the whole issue of similar names would have been avoided. He said he hoped this issue would be resolved soon so as to prevent any confusion.

-NOW Staff