President of the PLO Executive Committee
President of the Palestinian National Authority

Having reviewed:
Article (43) of the amended Basic Law of 2003 and its amendments and,
Based on the powers bestowed upon me and the public interest,
 
We hereby promulgate the following law:

• Article (1) Article (73) of the Elections Law No. 9 of 2005 shall be amended to read as follows:
  1. Polling day shall be an official holiday.
  2. Polling shall commence at 7 am on the assigned Election Day and shall finish at 7 pm on that day.
  3. The CEC may, upon the request of the polling center president, extend the polling period following a decision by the CEC Chairman, provided that it does not exceed two hours. The extension should only be limited to polling centers where extension is a necessity and to people already present at the polling centers.
  4. Security personnel shall cast their votes during the three days that precede the official polling day as per Article (2) above, provided that the counting of their votes shall be conducted at the same time of the counting of votes for the general elections, whereby the electoral process is considered as an indivisible unit. The polling process shall be conducted pursuant to the same regulations and procedures applied on polling day indicated in Article (1) above.
• Article (2)

  This Law shall be referred to the Legislative Council for ratification in the first session held after its issuance.
  This Law shall be referred to the Legislative Council for ratification in the first session held after its issuance.

• Article (3)

  This law shall enter into force upon its issuance.

• Article (4)

  Whatever goes against the provisions of this law shall be considered null and void.

• Article (5)

  All competent Authorities, each within its own jurisdiction, shall implement this law which shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Issued in the city of Ramallah on 3/1/2006

Mahmoud Abbas
President of the Palestinian National Authority
President of the PLO Executive Committee