Today, the CEC announced in a press conference held in Ramallah the commencement of nomination for the upcoming local elections scheduled to take place on 20 October according to local council elections law No. 10 of 2005. District offices across the West Bank will be open for electoral lists, party representatives and the public from 8:00am until 4:00pm over the ten day period of nomination to receive nomination applications.
In preparation for this, the CEC had previously held several trainings for nomination staff who will be responsible for receiving nomination applications at West Bank district offices. The CEC also met with representatives of accredited political parties to explain nomination procedures.
According to elections law, the candidate for the membership of local council should:
- Attain 25 years or more on Election Day
- Have his/her name enlisted in the final voters list
- Not be convicted with a felony against honor or a crime
- Not be an employee for the ministry of local government, public security and a local council
- Reside within the local community in which he/she is running for a period of no less than
one year
- Not be a candidate in another electoral district or within another list
CEC procedures attest to the right of political parties, coalitions or groups to form electoral lists for the purpose of nomination for the membership of local councils. Registration of electoral lists will be through a special application form which can be obtained from CEC’s central election bureau in Ramallah or any of CEC’s district offices or CEC’s webpage: www. Election.ps. Complete nomination applications are to be submitted by the list representative to the district office in the locality to which the list wishes to be nominated for council membership.
Upon processing of applications, the CEC will publish the preliminary list of candidates on 16 September for three days in the district offices and the premises of local councils to enable lists to verify registration information and voters to review the list of candidates and object to the nomination of any list or candidate they deem illegal.
In another context, the CEC finalized the final voters list and handed copies of which to accredited political parties. The total number of eligible voters currently stands at 963493 distributed to 353 localities in the West bank where local elections will be held.
On this occasion, the CEC calls upon the Palestinian public, political parties, CSOs and concerned bodies to facilitate the work of CEC staff in organizing free, fair and transparent elections.