11,000 Employees Vote, Results Sunday Evening
In an unprecedented move, 11,000 staff and poll workers began heading to ballot stations on Thursday to take part in Lebanese parliamentary elections ahead of the weekend vote.
Polling stations will close at 7 pm Thursday and votes will be counted on Sunday.
"All those in charge of the polling stations on Sunday are casting their ballots today," a government official said.
Security measures were tight with monitors and security forces at every polling station, the official said.
Sunday”s election is set to be a closely-fought race between the parliamentary majority March 14 forces and the Hizbullah-led alliance.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said the final results to be announced at midday Monday, barring any major security mishaps or fraud.
About 3.2 million Lebanese are eligible to vote, many of them expatriates who are flying in to cast their ballots, as the law does not allow overseas votes.
Some 2,200 national observers and 250 international monitors will oversee the vote including monitors from the European Union, the Carter Center, the Arab League and several countries.