Organization : High National Elections Commission
Facility : Woman Participation in Electoral Process
Applicable For : Women
Country : Libya
Woman Participation : https://www.electionin.org/uploads/2631-Women-Participation.pdf
Home page : hnec [dot] ly
HNEC Woman Participation in Electoral Process
** Percentages of the Libyan women participation in electoral processes as voters are considered acceptable, taking into account the decent Libyan experience in general and the social role of Libyan women in particular.
Related : HNEC Libya Out of Country Registration & Voting : www.electionin.org/906.html
** In some constituencies, women participation in electoral processes was higher than men participation, due to the tough competition at those constituencies, taking into account the fact that women’s vote is the factor that decides the winner of the seat at those constituencies.
** Close percentages of participation, among various constituencies make woman electoral awareness, in big cities, very limited compared with the same in rural areas.
** After comparing the percentages of women participation in electoral processes with seats won by women, it becomes clear that women votes usually go for male candidates.
Libyan Woman as Candidate
What characterizes the Libyan woman participation, as a candidate?
Compared with the percentages of their participation as (voters), the percentages of the Libyan women participation as (candidates) are low.
We believe that this is due to the following reasons:
1- The decent Libyan experience in elections, in general, and women experience in elections, in particular.
2 – The status of women in the Libyan society and the prevailing social structure which does not support the idea of women participation in the political life.
3 – The intellectual differences among the political parties within the legislative and executive authorities, on women participation in the political life.
Women did not get any seats in the (general race); they won the seats allocated to them by Law, in the (special race).
Obstacles Faced
Obstacles that face (women candidates) in the electoral process
There are some obstacles that limit women participation and spoil the power balance among the parties competing for the seats allocated by the electoral law, including:
Technical obstacles:
the electoral process requires many important technical requirements; women can not fulfill them as required.
Financial obstacles:
Libyan women do not have the enough necessary financial recourses to manage their political participation in general and electoral participation in particular; since the Libyan society does not include what is called (businesswomen).
Coordination obstacles:
generally speaking, the support, provided to women in Libya, by local or international organizations, lacks strategy and coordination.
Requirements
Requirements of activating Libyan women participation in the electoral process
Raising women political and electoral awareness could achieve good results in the Libyan case.
Therefore, work is needed in this direction within a strategy based on the following principals:
1- horizontal expansion strategy: focusing the awareness based on geography and quantity.
2- Vertical expansion strategy: focusing the awareness based on quality.
Exploring different ways and means that enable women to join a fair competition for the seats allocated by the law.