Over 5 million eligible voters for upcoming parliamentary elections, says IEC

AMMAN — The Independent Elections Commission (IEC) said on Wednesday that the final number of eligible voters for the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in September was around 5.1 million.

After going through the legal procedures regarding any complaints or objections, the total number of eligible voters was 5,115,219, including 2,689,926  females, which represents 52.5 per cent of the total voters, according to a press statement by the IEC.

The statement added that the number of eligible voters who will cast their ballots for the first time was 590,794.

Meanwhile, the number of eligible voters under 25 years old was 1,119,832, while the number under 35 was 2,323,478, according to the IEC statement.

The IEC also stated that voters can check their ballot polling stations, location and the number of the polling box by visiting the website www.iec.jo or by contacting the hotline number 117100 or via free text messages at the number 94455.

The IEC added that it had published the voter’s list on its social media platforms “to allow the public to access it,” according to the statement.

The IEC set the Parliamentary elections for September 10.

On April 24, His Majesty King Abdullah ordered the holding of the elections for the House of Representatives, in accordance with the law.

In 2022, the Senate and the Lower House passed the 2022 amendments to the Political Parties Law, which require political parties to increase the percentage of women and youth to at least 20 per cent within three years after their foundation.

There should be no less than 1,000 founding members of political parties, and at least 10 per cent should be women and young people between 18 and 35 years old, according to the new law. 

The law also allows university students who join political parties to engage in partisan activities on campus without any infringement on their rights, as a bylaw will be issued to regulate such activities. 

It also stipulates that a founding conference shall be held by the party within a year after meeting the requirements, where no less than a third of the party’s 1,000 founders shall attend, and must represent at least six governorates.   

The Political Parties Law, along with the Elections Law, has been revisited by the Royal Committee to Modernise the Political System as part of its mandate to achieve the envisioned political reform.

During a visit in late April to the IEC, King Abdullah urged the IEC’s board of commissioners and staff to work to ensure the success of the electoral process, calling for zero tolerance of any violations.