The Electoral Law of the Palestinian Authority
(December 7, 1995)
The electoral law signed by President Yasser
Arafat on Thursday, December 7, 1995, contains regulations for the
nomination process, the election campaign, the conduct of the election
and the counting of the votes.
As basic principle the law establishes a majority voting system with
16 constituencies for the election of the Palestinian Council and one
single constituency for the election of the President of the Palestinian
National Authority. Of the 16 constituencies, five are located in
the Gaza Strip, 11 cover the territory of the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
Each elector will have one vote for the election of the President and
as many votes for the Council as his or her constituency has seats in
the Council. If for example a constituency is entitled to send five
members to the Council, each elector has up to five votes. Elector can
distribute their votes to candidates belonging to one or more parties
and may also vote for only one or two candidates.
In the election for the President the candidate who gets the highest
number of votes is elected. If there is going to be only one candidate,
he or she must however receive more valid votes than there are blanks
or invalid ones.
In the election for the Council the best-placed candidates win the
seats of their constituency. In three constituencies there is however
a special quota for Christians. A second special regulation concerns
the constituency of Nablus where an additional seat is reserved for
the Samaritan minority.
The nomination of candidates was open to parties and to independent
candidates. Candidates running for the presidency must present 5000
signatures supporting their candidacy and pay a deposit of 3000 USD
to the Ministry of Finance. Candidates for the Council must present
500 signatures and pay a deposit of 1000 USD. The deposit is going to
be refunded to the candidates that are elected. Candidates must be Palestinians,
have a valid address in an area under the jurisdiction of the Council
and be at least 35 years old when running for the presidency and 30
years for the Council. The candidates that present their candidacy first
will appear on top of the ballot papers of their constituency. The ballot
paper will show the name of the candidate, his or her party and the
logo or the initials of the party or his or her status as independent
candidate, as well a space to mark (x) for the candidate.
Nominations were open from December 14 until December 23, and from
December 30 to December 31. On January 5, the Central Election Commission
the Final Statement of Persons Nominated and on the same day, the election
campaign starts.
The law also contains precise regulations for the conduct of the campaign.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) will publish a list of sites for
campaign rallies. Campaigning in the buildings of the Authority and
in mosques and churches is prohibited. All candidates shall also have
access to the official Palestinian media. Equal media opportunities
will be allocated to candidates of parties, as well as to independent
candidates. In addition, the official Palestinian news and current affaires
media must maintain a fair balance of coverage between parties and candidates
during the campaign.
The law contains strict regulations concerning illegal offences during
the campaign. Foreign funding of campaigns is prohibited. The election
campaign ends on January 18, 1996. There will be no campaigning on polling
day and the day before.
Complaints concerning for example the behaviour of candidates or alleged
discrimination against candidates can be addressed to the Central Election
Commission. An Election Appeals Court will be established to deal with
disputes that cannot be solved on a lower level.
On election day the polling stations will be open from 7 a.m. until
7 p.m. The Polling Station Commissions will then count the votes in
the polling stations and will transmit the results to the District Election
Offices (DEO). The DEOs will total these results and transmit the figures
to the CEC that will publish them.
Sources: The Palestinian Academic Network |