9/9/2024–|Last updated: 9/9/20242:42 p.m. (Mecca time)
5 million 115 thousand 219 Jordanians eligible to vote and registered in the final registers of the electoral districts of the Kingdom will go to the polls tomorrow, Tuesday, to elect the 20 members of the House of Representatives.
Jordan’s election silence period came into effect this morning, 24 hours before the election date, which is taking place under a new law that allocates 41 seats to parties out of 138 seats.
According to the Jordanian News Agency (Petra), elections are taking place in which 1,634 male and female candidates are running for local and general party constituencies, under the supervision of the Independent Election Commission.
Among the party lists and party alliances, 697 male and female candidates ran for the general list, including 505 men and 192 women, while the number of candidates in local constituencies reached 937 male and female candidates, including 747 men and 190 women.
The Independent Electoral Commission is responsible for supervising and managing the elections at all stages, while the role of the executive branch is limited to providing logistical and security support to ensure the electoral process runs smoothly.
The number of candidate lists reached 172 lists at the local constituency level, while the number of lists competing for the party’s general constituency reached 25 lists.
The vote includes 18 electoral districts, with a total number of 1,649 centers, where 5,843 ballot boxes and counts will be distributed.
Monitor and secure
The electoral process is monitored by more than 61 organizations, with a total of approximately 700 observers affiliated with international monitoring missions and entities representing embassies and international organizations operating in Jordan, as invited international observers, independent local, Arab and international monitoring institutions and bodies, and affiliated with regional and international organizations with experience in observing elections in countries around the world.
The Public Security Directorate confirmed its readiness and capacity to secure the legislative elections, in accordance with the highest standards, by preparing a security and humanitarian plan, adhering to the highest levels of professionalism and impartiality, to ensure the protection of the electoral process and enable citizens to exercise their constitutional right to political participation and express their will by voting.
The Public Security Directorate also confirmed that it provided more than 54,000 officers and individuals, as well as thousands of technical systems, equipment, mechanisms and support vehicles, to make the democratic election a success.
Director of Public Security, General Obaidullah Al-Maaytah, explained that the electoral plan was based on coordination and integration between formations and units, and included the stages of the temporal electoral process, whether it is what precedes or accompanies it, or what comes after the announcement of the results.
According to Electoral Law No. 4 of 2022, candidates are allowed to carry out electoral propaganda from the date of acceptance of the candidacy, provided that it ends 24 hours before the day set for voting, thus announcing the entry into electoral silence.
Last April, King Abdullah II of Jordan called for parliamentary elections for the 20th Council, and the Independent Election Commission set the date for September 10, 2024.
The last elections to the House of Representatives were held in 2020 with the participation of 1,674 candidates, as part of exceptional measures, as the country was then under the influence of the Corona epidemic which was spreading worldwide at the time.
It should be noted that the Jordanian Parliament is divided into two parts: the Senate, appointed by the king, and the elected House of Representatives.
The Senate, including the President, is composed of a number not exceeding half the number of the House of Representatives, and the King directly appoints the members and the President, in accordance with the Constitution.