Executive Summary
The Carter Center welcomes the announcement of preliminary election results by Libya's High National Elections Commission (HNEC) on July 17, 2012, and congratulates HNEC staff for their diligence in completing the tabulation process in a timely manner and for their efforts to ensure that all voters had an opportunity to participate in the elections. While improvements could be made, the tabulation process for the July 7 General National Congress elections was conducted in a credible manner and was adequate to determine the results of the election accurately.

Disruptions to the electoral process negatively affected polling in a number of locations. In response to attacks on polling materials and centers in the east, the HNEC made a number of decisions on and after election day that impacted opening times, polling dates, and polling center locations. Although these measures were devised to increase participation and ensure voter security, they were contrary to the election law and may have caused confusion among voters due to their late implementation. In future elections, the Center encourages the HNEC to develop a detailed emergency operations plan in advance and to inform polling staff and voters in a timely manner.

It was apparent to Carter Center observers that HNEC staff sought to conduct counting, recounting, and tabulation transparently and in accordance with the election law. Their efforts should be commended. Several aspects of the process could be improved though to ensure compliance with international and national standards and allow for the smooth conduct of tabulation in future elections:

• To increase transparency, counting and recounting should always be done in the district where voting took place so that polling staff, observers, and political entity and candidates' agents can be present.
• To ensure accountability, polling staff should be required to sign results forms to indicate their agreement to any corrections made by auditors. Means to make this feasible should be examined.
• To ensure accuracy, more robust quarantine triggers should be included to detect inconsistencies or anomalies in results and reconciliation forms.