In today’s meeting at the CEC, Chairman Dr. Hanna Nasir, Secretary General Dr. Rami al-Hamdullah and Chief Electoral Officer, Mr. Ammar Dwaik, met with the CEC commissioners in Ramallah and Gaza through video conference to discuss preparations for the upcoming elections and to process the applications for candidate nomination that were submitted during the period of registration.
The CEC also confirmed the launch of a three day supplementary registration drive in the 16 electoral districts which will take place from 16/12/2005 - 18/12/2005. Voters who have not yet registered can register during this period. Registrants are not permitted to change their residency. This drive is the last chance voters will have to register before preparation of the final list and its distribution to the political parties.
The CEC also reviewed the applications for candidate nomination after verifying their fulfillment of the legal procedures. 67 out of the 68 applications were accepted. One application was refused because it had failed to add a statement indicating that the applicant’s resignation was carried out as per the law, and also because the list of supporters’ signatures contained false signatures. Furthermore, three applications for the electoral lists were accepted: "The Alternative", "Independent Palestine" and " Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa."
Further application processing sessions will be held by the CEC. Today, the CEC received four district-based nominations but no nominations for the electoral lists. The total number of submissions stands at 198 applications.