Syrian voters were bused into Lebanon for the elections on Sunday.
Abu Kais explained this voting phenomenon in Lebanon:
Some had Lebanese accents—probably Lebanese living in Syria. These said they came to vote for the “opposition”. Others had Syrian accents and seemed confused about who they were voting for.
“We will vote for Sayed Hassan Nasrallah”, one of them said, to the agreement of others around him. “But Sayed Hassan is not running in these elections,” the reporter said. After some deliberation, they decided they came to vote for Michel Aoun. “He has been good to Syrian workers,” one of them said.
These Syrians were naturalized during the Syrian era to offset the then largely anti-Syrian Maronite vote in areas like Metn. Lebanese authorities cannot stop them because they all carry Lebanese ID cards.
Syrian Leader Bashir Assad, Hezbollah Leader Nasrallah, and Hezbollah lackey Christian Leader Michael Aoun are seen together in a poster.
Christian Opposition member and Hezbollah ally, Michael Aoun declared his candidate the victor last night by a slight margin. Aoun and Hezbollah’s candidate, Camille Khoury, was running in a hotly contested race against March 14 member Amin Gemayel.
Gemayel was running to replace the seat left vacant after his son was assassinated by (likely) Syrian agents.
Aoun and Hezbollah supporters attacked three Gemayel supporters at polling station during the election.
From Beirut to the Beltway has several updates on the elections.
