Electoral Campaigning

First: Definitions

• Electoral Campaign: electoral activities and actions exercised by village council candidates and electoral lists of municipal councils through their representatives and candidate agents, to explain their electoral platform to the electorate.
• Electoral Campaigning Materials: every activity or material used in electoral campaigning, including printed materials, banners, advertisements, social media and public meetings.
• Electoral Platform: a written document submitted by electoral lists (municipalities) or candidates nominated for village councils attached to the nomination application. It comprises of the plans and commitments they intend to implement if elected, and is considered one of the legally required documentation for the registration of electoral lists or candidates for the elections.

 Electoral Campaigning Provisions

Second: Electoral Campaigning: a right enshrined in the law

The Decree-Law and its amendments provided for the right of every candidate and electoral list to exercise various campaigning activities to present their electoral platforms to the electorate, in a manner that does not contradict with laws and regulations in effect. Candidates and electoral lists; including its candidates, representatives and campaign manager are fully legally liable for all their campaigning materials and activities.

Third: Legal Period for Electoral Campaigning

• Electoral campaigning period: 14 days, starting Friday morning, April 10, 2026 until Thursday evening, April 23, 2026.
• Campaigning outside the legal period is prohibited: it is prohibited to exercise any campaigning activities or actions before or after the specified period, including all forms and means, whether organizing meetings, marches, or symposiums, or through the use of different social media platforms, or any other activity that can be seen as electoral campaigning.
• Monitoring compliance: The CEC monitors all forms and means of electoral campaigning in the field and through social media platforms in order to ensure electoral lists and their candidates’ adherence not to exercise campaigning outside the legal period designated to that purpose.
• Legal procedures: the CEC shall undertake necessary legal measures to prevent any violation of electoral campaigning provisions and regulations, and preserves the right to refer all those in violation with provisions of electoral campaigning to public prosecution for legal due diligence.
• The right to submit complaints: any interested person can submit a complaint in writing to the CEC regarding any violation of electoral campaigning provisions.

Fourth: Electoral Campaigning Regulations

Candidates and electoral lists shall adhere to the regulations of electoral campaigning while exercising their electoral campaigning activities and actions, which include not to exercise any campaigning activity inside places of worship, or in its surroundings, or close to hospitals, or inside governmental buildings and utilities. It also includes not to use private property without prior approval of the owners, in addition to banning the use of governmental and public vehicles, slogans and stationary, as well as adhering to absence of any hatred, racist or incitement discourse or a discourse founded on hatred, discrimination or harming other candidates or electoral lists.

Fifth: Financial Control of Electoral Campaigning

Electoral campaigning is subject to financial control by the CEC with the aim of ensuring transparency, justice, fairness and equal opportunities. Below are some provisions related to financial control imposed on electoral campaigning:

• Sources of financing the electoral campaign: every candidate or electoral list has the right to receive donations from Palestinian natural or legal persons residing domestically or abroad. Candidates, electoral lists and its candidates are prohibited from acquiring financing for their electoral campaign from any foreign non-Palestinian source, external or domestic, directly or indirectly, whether the funds were cash or in-kind. Moreover, candidates and electoral lists may not acquire the financing of their electoral campaign from the State.
• Electoral campaigning expenditure ceiling: expenditure on electoral campaigning per candidate or electoral list should not exceed the expenditure ceiling defined in the guidelines issued by the CEC.
• Financial report on electoral campaigning expenditure: the law dictates that every candidate and every electoral list who have participated in the elections, must submit a detailed financial report, the latest by May 25, 2026; within a month from the date of announcing the final elections results. The report should clarify all sources of financing, areas of expenditure and electoral campaigning costs. The CEC has the right to ask for audited reports from a registered auditor or to remain satisfied with a legal affidavit, and to make the report available to the interested public.

Sixth: Recovering the Electoral Campaigning Insurance Money

The electoral campaigning insurance money can be recovered in case candidates and electoral lists adhered to the electoral campaigning provisions, submission of a financial statement, and adherence to removal of all activities and materials of electoral campaigning within three months starting polling day.

In case of not adhering to the removal of all activities and materials related to campaigning, the CEC has the right to remove it and discount the removal costs from the total amount.

Seventh: Role of Official Media Outlets in Electoral Campaigning

Official media outlets are committed to providing equal opportunities to all lists and candidates to present their electoral platforms free of charge, while adhering to the principle of equal opportunities and equality among all, in full cooperation with the CEC.

Official media is committed to remaining neutral throughout all stages of the electoral process, and none of its institutions may exercise any action that might be interpreted as direct support to a certain electoral list or candidate.

Eighth: Electoral Campaigning Fines and Penalties

The CEC shall refer those in violation of electoral campaigning provisions to the public prosecution for undertaking the necessary legal measures. Among those violations related to electoral campaigning provisions is exceeding the legal period, violating provisions related to financing electoral campaigns, or breaching the regulations enshrined in the Decree-Law and its amendments.

Anyone who may violate the legal period for campaigning and the provisions on financing electoral campaigns, or any other duties or procedures enshrined in the Decree-Law is punishable by imprisonment for a period no less than 6 months and no longer than one year, or by a fine up to 1000 JOD or both penalties combined.