NEW: Signs of state-building beginning to emerge amid chaos, Libya expert says Libyans last voted before Moammar Gadhafi came to power 42 years ago Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As Libyans await preliminary results of the country's first parliamentary elections in decades, expected Monday, "signs of state-building are ever so slowly starting to emerge" from post-revolutionary chaos, according to Libya expert Dirk Vandewalle. Schools and businesses are reopening. Ministries are being reorganized and are starting to make and implement policy," said Vandewalle, a Dartmouth professor and author of "A History of Modern Libya." "Most importantly, the power of the militias is very slowly but inexorably being eroded," he said. The nation's judiciary is even starting to flex its muscle, Vandewalle says, noting it recently overturned a law that seemed aimed at restricting free expression. More than 1.7 million Libyans -- roughly 60% of the nation's 2.8 million registered voters -- cast ballots Saturday in the nation's first parliamentary elections in more than four decades, according to Nuri Khalifa Al-Abbar, chairman of Libya's High National Election Commission. About 3,500 candidates were running for 200 seats. The tallying of ballots began shortly after voting closed Saturday, though more were added to the mix Sunday when eight polling stations were opened after violence on election day stopped voters from casting ballots. Sunday's voting figures were not immediately available. While preliminary results are expected Monday, final results are likely to be announced by the end of the week at the earliest, the state-run LANA news agency reported. The parliamentary vote is a litmus test for Libya in the era after the late Moammar Gadhafi, who dismantled many of the civic institutions common to democratic states during his years in power. Those demonstrations spread, leading to a civil war, NATO airstrikes and Gadhafi's death by a bullet to the head in October. While Gadhafi's death ended much of the violence, unrest continues in parts of the country, particularly the south and the west, and the government has not been able to completely contain the militias that helped overthrow the former leader. But the government has proved capable of responding to such crises, Vandewalle said: Authorities were able to disarm the militia that took over Tripoli's airport on June 4, and also forced attackers out of the prime minister's office and removed protesters who had blocked access to a state-owned oil company. Many Libyans seem ready to put the revolution behind them, Vandewalle said, noting an encounter he had with a man whitewashing graffiti on the walls of Tripoli's old city. " 'Enough,' " Vandewalle quoted the man as saying when asked why he was going to the trouble. " 'Libya is moving on.'  The last time Libya held an election was almost half a century ago, and for many people, the act of casting a ballot was novel after 42 years of Gadhafi's rule. Ruling has proved similarly unfamiliar, Vandewalle said. "It would be utterly impossible to construct in only a few months all the institutions of a modern, properly functioning state Gadhafi destroyed in his pursuit of statelessness for 42 years," he said. "Building a state and a nation takes time, ideas, compromise and leadership -- particularly difficult if, as in Libya, the social and political landscape after the civil war was essentially a tabula rasa, and none of those qualities now needed to construct a modern state were in demand during the Gadhafi period," Vandewalle said. Once seated, the new national assembly will be tasked with appointing a transitional government and crafting a constitution. This story is based on reporting by CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Tripoli and Michael Pearson and Moni Basu in Atlanta.