Election registration process kicks off ‘transparent and smooth’

AMMAN – Candidates on Tuesday started registration to run in the September 20 parliamentary polls with the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which will be receiving applications until the end of working hours on Thursday. 

An official at the IEC told The Jordan Times that 147 lists were registered Tuesday, involving over 770 nominees across the Kingdom, adding that nearly 150 women were among the candidates. 

Candidates can only stand for election through lists as running individually is not permitted, according to the 2015 Elections Law.

Some applicants interviewed at a registration centre in Amman commended the IEC for "smooth" registration procedures. 

Buthaina Rawashdeh, who registered to run in Amman's 3rd District, said she only needed 15 minutes to complete the process. 

Bilal Saleh, from the Civil Coalition for Monitoring Elections and the Performance of Elected Councils (Rased), said no complaints were recorded regarding the application filing, commending measures applied by the agency to facilitate the process. 

"Measures from A to Z are transparent and smooth," he said. 

The IEC has opened several centres for registration of candidates in Amman as well as across the Kingdom, Saleh noted as he was on a mission to monitor registration at Amman Youth House, which was designated as one of the centres to receive applications by would-be candidates for Amman’s 3rd District. 

Mazen Hashlamoun, another Amman nominee, said that candidates have already started their promotion campaigns by placing advertisements and posters in public places in the capital. 

“They should start their campaigns when their applications are approved,” he protested. 

But Aous Quteishat, an adviser at the IEC, said candidates are allowed to start their advertisement campaigns once they are done with paper work with the agency.