[4] In a surprise offensive on 3 March 2017, the Islamist-dominated Benghazi Defense Brigades seized a number of oil ports from the Libyan National Army-backed House of Representatives.

[6] The House then called for Libya's electoral commission to make "all the necessary arrangements to prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections before February 2018".

[14] Ghassan Salamé, the United Nations representative in Libya, stated that an election in December 2018 would be unlikely due to the ongoing fighting.

[18] As of 2019[update], the HNEC Board consisted of Emad Alshadly al-Sayah, Rabab Mohammed Halab, Abdelhakim Alshaab Belkhair and Abubakr Ali Marda.

[28] Various postponements have resulted from disputes about fundamental rules governing the election, including the voting timetable, the eligibility of the main candidates and the eventual powers of the next president and parliament.

Days before the first round was scheduled to take place, the election was already up in the air, with no official list of candidates presented to the public and no formal campaigning under way.

[33] The U.N.'s special adviser on Libya, Stephanie Williams, who has pursued a new election date, told the Associated Press that it was still "very reasonable and possible" for the country's 2.8 million voters to cast their ballots by June 2022 in line with the U.N.-brokered roadmap.

[34] On 23 January 2022, interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh called for a constitution to be established before holding the delayed presidential and parliamentary elections.

[37] Since then, the voting has not taken place and the plans have unraveled and left the country in crisis, although Dbeibeh is reported by his allies to be working on these issues.

[47] Abdel Moneim al-Houni, former Foreign Minister and founding member of the Libyan Revolutionary Command Council, registered his candidacy on 22 November.

[52] On 30 November, Libyan Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar was disqualified from the presidential election after the Zawiya Court of First Instance accepted an appeal against his candidacy.

[53] On 1 December, four candidates disqualified by the HNEC, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, Nouri Abusahmain, Salama Al-Ghweil, and Fathi Benshatwan were placed back on the ballot by the Tripoli Court of Appeal.