2013
Jordan Parliamentary Elections
24
vote buying. In many cases, women did not register themselves, deferring to men. This was
most often done with their consent but begs the question of whether these women were
then influenced to vote in a certain way, thus perpetuating women’s political dependence.
Election cards held by prospective candidates
: A RASED survey indicated that between 108,000-
121,000 election cards were being forcibly held by prospective candidates or their
representatives. This practice was illegal and potentially provided opportunities for vote
buying by giving perpetrators leverage over voters regarding their voting decision. In one
example of a case where undue influence of voters may have occurred, a candidate in
Amman announced in a YouTube video that he had 9,000 voter cards given to him by his
supporters
While the IEC for the most part struggled to find effective ways to prevent such actions,
on December 12, 2012, in the first court ruling under the new election law, the Irbid Court
of First Instance sentenced two persons in absentia to three months in prison for holding a
large number of voter cards.
Presence of prospective candidates at registration stations
: The presence of prospective candidates or
their representatives was perceived by many as a way to exert pressure on citizens. Though
their presence can be interpreted as early campaigning and therefore constitutes a violation
of the election law, some registration stations did not undertake appropriate action to
remove them.
After completion of the registration process, every citizen had the chance to check his or her
personal details on the preliminary voter list or object to the registration of another person. During
this seven-day complaints period, the IEC received around 26,000 contestations, 97 percent of
which came from voters against other voters.
Other complaints included objections about
ineligible voters, including military personnel, and names of voters who had received an election
card but whose names did not appear on the voter list. The IEC accepted a little more than 4,000
complaints, dismissing the rest as being unsubstantiated according to the election law.
Voter Education
New procedures introduced by the election law – in particular, the establishment of the IEC, new
voter registration procedures, introduction of a national proportional voting system and a pre-
printed ballot – increased the importance of voter education campaigns in the elections. The IEC
was legally mandated with informing the public about changes in the election code, along with any
additional modifications made through executive instructions. To do this, the IEC was required to
post changes to the official election website (
) and notify two newspapers.
Additional tasks the IEC was responsible for regarding voter education included: notifying voters of
the location where they could obtain their cards; notifying voters that they would have one month to
23
The Jordan Times
. “Former MP charged in election crime.” 13 December, 2012.
-
mp-indicted-in-election-crime>.
24
RASED.
The Credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission is at Stake
. 11 December 2012.
25
RASED.
The Credibility of the Independent Electoral Commission is at Stake
. 11 December 2012.
26
Though it is not stipulated to which newspapers the IEC must submit their information, the three main Arabic papers
are
Alghad, Alrai
and
Addustour
. The main English paper is
The Jordan Times
.
