Jordan Times
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Jordanians head to polls today
By Mohammad Ben Hussein
AMMAN - Jordanians today head to polling centres to elect the 15th Parliament,
with authorities saying all arrangements are in place for a smooth,
violence-free voting process.
This year’s polls will see 885 candidates, including 199 women vying for the
Lower House’s 110 seats, six of which are designated as women’s quota.
Polling stations will open from 7:00am to 7:00pm and election supervisors have
the right to extend the voting period further in case voters are still present
at polling centres at closure time.
Around 2.45 million eligible voters are listed on electoral lists.
The government has announced a series of measures to guarantee free and fair
elections including linking voting centres to an electronic network. In case of
any network failure, committees present at centres around the Kingdom are
supposed to resort to cellphones provided with SIM cards that have the names and
national numbers of all eligible voters.
The authorities also said the security situation was taken care of as 40,000
policemen were already deployed across the Kingdom to prevent any problems and
ensure a smooth process, taking all possibilities into consideration.
The Islamic Action Front (IAF), the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and
the largest opposition group, has fielded 22 candidates in major cities, 10
candidates less than the number of IAF nominees in previous polls.
Other political parties are also in, but the scene, according to observers,
seems mainly dominated by tribal candidates and independents.
The opposition parties, other than the IAF, chose to support six candidates, as
a “symbolic” gesture, despite their reservations about the election process,
mainly the one-person, one-vote formula.
Meanwhile, the authorities are expected to keep an eye on violations of the
Elections Law, mainly vote-buying, following complaints by both citizens and
candidates that some contenders are presenting various kinds of offers,
including cash, to lure voters to their camp.
Two weeks ago, security forces announced the arrest of two men allegedly working
as brokers between candidates and voters to facilitate vote buying. The suspects
are held in custody, facing a maximum sentence of one year.
Government critics also accuse it of facilitating vote transfer from one area to
another “to support its candidates”, but officials countered the allegation,
saying the transfer of voters’ records from one district to another is legal as
long as requirements are met. It announced last week it cancelled the transfer
of nearly 86,000 names that did not meet these requirements over the past years.
A recent poll by the University of Jordan showed that voter turnout is not
expected to exceed 55 per cent.
Another poll conducted by Ipsos Marketing Research in October put the percentage
at 70.
To encourage participation, the government declared today a holiday, while
government and civil society institutions have launched campaigns targeting high
turnout, especially among the youth.