8 July 2012 Last updated at 07:23 ET
The end of voting on Saturday evening sparked celebrations
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Vote-counting is under way after Libya held its first free national election for 60 years on Saturday.
The first results are expected on Monday, with some unofficial exit polls suggesting a liberal alliance was doing better than Islamist parties.
Sunday has been declared a holiday, amid celebrations after a largely peaceful election with a 60% turnout.
The 200-member assembly will choose the first elected government since Col Gaddafi came to power in 1969.
On voting day there were pockets of unrest in the east, where there are fears the region will be under-represented in the new temporary assembly being elected.
US President Barack Obama said the election was "another milestone" in Libya's political transformation. Italy has also hailed the vote.
More than 100 parties are competing in the poll, many of them formed only in recent months.
The most prominent party to emerge so far is the Justice and Construction Party, made up mostly of Muslim Brotherhood members.
The last fully free parliamentary election was held soon after independence in 1952. The last national vote was held in 1965, when no political parties were allowed.
Security issueFireworks lit Tripoli's sky at the end of voting on Saturday.
"The priorities for the coming period are security and justice for the Libyan people and rebuilding Libya on a secure basis," Mehmet Hawaz, a doctor, told the Associated Press television news.
Another voter - former political prisoner Mohammed Eid said: "The Libyan people have high expectations of the future. The Libyan people want to rebuild their country on solid ground with a good constitution, one that expresses the aspirations of the people and gives strong laws that will help build the country with strong institutions."
Ballot boxes are being sent to counting centres around the country - and expectations are high, correspondents say.
The liberal National Forces Alliance led by former Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril was in the lead in many constituencies in the capital as well as the eastern city of Benghazi, unofficial exit polls taken by the Libya Herald suggested.
"Early reports show that the coalition is leading the polls in the majority of constituencies," the secretary general of the alliance, Faisal Krekshi, told AFP news agency.
AFP quoted the leader of one of Libya's main Islamist parties - Mohammed Sawan of the Justice and Construction party - acknowledging this early trend.
"The National Forces Alliance achieved good results in some large cities except Misrata. They have a net lead in Tripoli and in Benghazi," he said said.
PeacefulVoting began late in some cities where gunmen disrupted voting in several locations, including in Ras Lanouf, Brega and Ajdabiya - all in eastern Libya. One person was killed in a shooting near a polling station in Ajdabiya.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Libyan elections[/h]
Despite the unrest, officials said voting had taken place in more than 98% of polling stations at some point on Saturday.
Many people in eastern Libya are concerned that the oil-rich area will be under-represented in the assembly and marginalised, as it was under Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
The region has been allotted only 60 seats in the 200-seat assembly, while the west will have 100 seats and the south 40, under the system devised by the outgoing National Transitional Council (NTC).
Some former rebels tried to derail the vote by targeting the oil industry, large parts of which are located in the east.
They have shut down several oil terminals, including those at Brega, Ras Lanouf and Sidra, and a significant part of Libya's oil exporting capacity has been disrupted.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, the NTC has said the new parliament will no longer be responsible for naming the panel that will draft Libya's new constitution.
The 60-member committee will be elected in a separate vote at a later date.
Continue reading the main story
Vote-counting is under way after Libya held its first free national election for 60 years on Saturday.
The first results are expected on Monday, with some unofficial exit polls suggesting a liberal alliance was doing better than Islamist parties.
Sunday has been declared a holiday, amid celebrations after a largely peaceful election with a 60% turnout.
The 200-member assembly will choose the first elected government since Col Gaddafi came to power in 1969.
On voting day there were pockets of unrest in the east, where there are fears the region will be under-represented in the new temporary assembly being elected.
US President Barack Obama said the election was "another milestone" in Libya's political transformation. Italy has also hailed the vote.
More than 100 parties are competing in the poll, many of them formed only in recent months.
The most prominent party to emerge so far is the Justice and Construction Party, made up mostly of Muslim Brotherhood members.
The last fully free parliamentary election was held soon after independence in 1952. The last national vote was held in 1965, when no political parties were allowed.
Security issueFireworks lit Tripoli's sky at the end of voting on Saturday.
"The priorities for the coming period are security and justice for the Libyan people and rebuilding Libya on a secure basis," Mehmet Hawaz, a doctor, told the Associated Press television news.
Another voter - former political prisoner Mohammed Eid said: "The Libyan people have high expectations of the future. The Libyan people want to rebuild their country on solid ground with a good constitution, one that expresses the aspirations of the people and gives strong laws that will help build the country with strong institutions."
Ballot boxes are being sent to counting centres around the country - and expectations are high, correspondents say.
The liberal National Forces Alliance led by former Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril was in the lead in many constituencies in the capital as well as the eastern city of Benghazi, unofficial exit polls taken by the Libya Herald suggested.
"Early reports show that the coalition is leading the polls in the majority of constituencies," the secretary general of the alliance, Faisal Krekshi, told AFP news agency.
AFP quoted the leader of one of Libya's main Islamist parties - Mohammed Sawan of the Justice and Construction party - acknowledging this early trend.
"The National Forces Alliance achieved good results in some large cities except Misrata. They have a net lead in Tripoli and in Benghazi," he said said.
PeacefulVoting began late in some cities where gunmen disrupted voting in several locations, including in Ras Lanouf, Brega and Ajdabiya - all in eastern Libya. One person was killed in a shooting near a polling station in Ajdabiya.
Continue reading the main story[h=2]Libyan elections[/h]
- 2.8 million registered voters from around 3-3.5 million eligible (45% women)
- 2,639 individual candidates (competing for 120 seats in 69 constituencies)
- 374 party lists from more than 100 political entities (competing for 80 party seats in 20 constituencies)
- 559 women registered for party seats (44%)
- 88 women registered for individual seats (3%)
Despite the unrest, officials said voting had taken place in more than 98% of polling stations at some point on Saturday.
Many people in eastern Libya are concerned that the oil-rich area will be under-represented in the assembly and marginalised, as it was under Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
The region has been allotted only 60 seats in the 200-seat assembly, while the west will have 100 seats and the south 40, under the system devised by the outgoing National Transitional Council (NTC).
Some former rebels tried to derail the vote by targeting the oil industry, large parts of which are located in the east.
They have shut down several oil terminals, including those at Brega, Ras Lanouf and Sidra, and a significant part of Libya's oil exporting capacity has been disrupted.
In an attempt to defuse the situation, the NTC has said the new parliament will no longer be responsible for naming the panel that will draft Libya's new constitution.
The 60-member committee will be elected in a separate vote at a later date.