On 25th January Palestinian voters in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) headed to the polling centers which opened at 7 am.
The legislative elections are the second since the advent of The Palestinian Authority, the first having been conducted in 1996.
The second legislative elections differ from the previous ones following modifications of the Elections Law and general law.
There are now 132 members in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) instead of 88.
Further, the modified Elections Law no.
9 of 2005 combines electoral lists with districts, whereas previous elections were based on districts only, this change has reinforced the role of the political parties in the Palestinian society.
In this respect, Al Mezan recruited and trained 388 observers on electoral law and regulations; the centre produced forms to record complaints and remarks which were submitted to the CEC.
Furthermore, the Center set out a plan to allocate observers over the five electoral districts in the Gaza Strip.
As in previous elections, Al Mezan observers must monitor on polling booth in a polling station while other observers visit other rooms within the same polling station throughout the day.
The legislative elections where characterized by a strong voter participation, and CEC reports after the close of voting showed 77% participation across the OPT, with the exception of post offices in Jerusalem where voting hours were extended.
The highest vote participation was 89%, recorded in Rafah, whereas the average in West Bank districts was 74.
18%, or 585,003 voters.
On the other hand, voter participation over all Gaza districts reached 81.
65%, or 396,079 voters.
Thus, the total number of voters over all electoral districts was 981,082.
The CEC decided to resume voting for two additional hours in Jerusalem post offices, due to obstructions caused by Israeli employees.
The CEC reported that the number of voters in the outskirts of Jerusalem reached 22,661 out of 47,742 voters which accounts to 47.
5% of the electorate.
However, 15,306 Jerusalemites voted in CEC polling centers in the outskirts of Jerusalem.
In spite of such high numbers of participation, Al Mezan’s first assessment reports emphasize the transparency and good organization of the electoral process supervised by the CEC.
According to Al Mezan field observations, few violations were recorded, most of which comprised of continuation of electoral campaigns outside polling stations, and such violations did not affect the voting process.
It is worth noting that 11 electoral lists of 314 candidates were competing in the legislative elections, whereas 414 candidates run for 16 districts among whom were 149 competing for districts seats.
After reviewing its observation reports, Al Mezan believes the elections occurred in accordance with the law and electoral regulations with few violations that did not affect the essence of the electoral process.
In this respect, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights highly appreciates the CEC efforts in its election preparation, and praises its high performance and professionalism.
Moreover it congratulates the Palestinian people, who have well performed their democratic rights, and the candidates, who displayed great respect and a sense of responsibility.
The electoral process has truly reflected the civilization of the Palestinian society.
End