Preparations in place for smooth election – officials

By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - Jordanians today will head to the 1,492 polling centres across the Kingdom to elect the 16th Parliament, with authorities saying all arrangements are in place for a smooth voting process.

This year’s elections will see a total of 763 candidates, including 143 women, vying for the 120 seats of the Lower House of Parliament, 12 of which are reserved for women under a quota system.

The Kingdom’s 12 governorates are divided into 45 main districts and 108 sub-districts.

Polling stations will be open from 7:00am to 7:00pm and election authorities in each governorate have the right to extend voting by up to two hours if voters are still present at polling centres at closing time, according to Saad Shihab, director of elections at the Ministry of Interior.

Shihab noted that 2.37 million Jordanians are eligible to vote in today’s elections.

The government has also announced a series of measures to guarantee free and fair elections, including linking polling centres through an electronic network, Elections Spokesperson Samih Maaytah said.

Three backup plans are in place in case a network failure occurs, he added.

The central election operations room at the interior ministry has 13 monitors connected with the country’s 12 governorates and the badia. Whenever a voter casts a ballot at any polling centre, his or her name will appear on the relevant monitor.

Each monitor contains a map of the governorate or region, its main districts, cities and neighbourhoods, along with the names of the members of its elections committee.

According to Maaytah, police personnel have already been deployed across the country to maintain security during the voting.

Chairing a meeting of the elections higher steering committee yesterday, Prime Minister Samir Rifai underscored the importance of facilitating the voting process to enable citizens to practise their constitutional right.

Rifai noted that today has been declared a public holiday, in order to ensure that Jordanians from all walks of life are able to vote.

Authorities are also expected to continue monitoring violations of the Elections Law, including vote buying and selling. Prosecutors are investigating vote buying cases involving 24 persons, including a candidate from Amman.

The 2010 temporary Elections Law prohibits candidates from providing financial or in-kind assistance to constituents in exchange for their votes.

Under the law, vote buying is a crime punishable by imprisonment of up to seven years, a penalty that cannot be replaced by fines.

Also yesterday, Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Ali Ayed expressed confidence that the measures taken by the government and its affiliated bodies will guarantee maximum participation in today’s elections, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At a press conference, Ayed said the job of the government has been largely confined to assuring fairness and transparency during the election process.

He called on citizens to place the country’s interests above all other considerations in deciding how to vote and stressed that the government will take strong legal action against anyone who violates the law during the polls, Petra reported.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations will also play a role in today’s elections as observers at polling stations.

In a statement made available to The Jordan Times yesterday, Rased, a coalition of civil society organisations, said they have trained 1,650 volunteers to observe the elections, and that they will be present today in both polling stations and counting centres.

The National Centre for Human Rights has also trained 1,200 observers to that end.

The Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood and the largest opposition group, is boycotting this year’s elections along with some leftist groups, citing dissatisfaction with the Elections Law and doubts about the government’s commitment to genuine reform.

jordantimes