March 23rd, Ramallah - The Central Elections Commission (CEC) has officially announced the conclusion of voter registration, which began on 6 March.
Immediately following the close of the registration drive, CEC technical staff began processing the data collected from the 201,438 voters who registered during this period, and accordingly no new voters will be added until after the end of local elections scheduled for 17 July 2010.
Upon completion of the data entry process, the CEC will produce all voter information for the preliminary voter registry to be published during the period of exhibition and challenge, which will be conducted between 25 April and 29 April, according to the legal electoral timeline developed by the CEC.
Based on recent registration statistics and the estimated census of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics for mid-2010, it is expected that, the preliminary voters registry - which includes both new and previously registered voters - will be comprised of 85% of eligible voters. In comparison to global percentages, this number is considered relatively high.
The CEC would like to thank all official institutions, especially the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and UNRWA for allowing schools to be used as registration centers. The CEC would also like to thank the teachers who worked as registration staff during this period.
Furthermore, the CEC would like to thank all Palestinian political parties, local NGOs, universities, media outlets and all Palestinian citizens for their cooperation with the CEC in ensuring the success of the registration process. The CEC hopes such support will continue throughout the electoral process to ensure free and fair elections.