2013
Jordan Parliamentary Elections
33
Ajloun
71,048
50,418
71
Aqaba
31,641
19,723
62
Bedouin
(North)
58,867
44,416
75
Bedouin
(Center)
41,790
31,251
75
Bedouin (South)
42,521
31,191
73
Total
2,272,182
1,288,043
57
Source:
IEC Jordan
Voting process
Overall, IRI observers concluded that election procedures were largely followed and polling staff
acted in a professional manner. Polls opened at 7:00am and closed at 8:00pm after the IEC decided
to extend voting by one hour toward the end of Election Day. The majority of polling stations
observed at the opening were characterized as orderly and calm. Though technical glitches initially
occurred with the electronic check-in system at a number of stations, polling staff worked quickly to
resolve this issue. The environment outside polling centers and inside polling stations was also calm,
particularly in the morning when voter turnout was low. At stations at which IRI short-term
observer teams were present, polling staff matched up the necessary two forms of identification –
national identification card and voter card – to voter lists unique to each polling station. After the
voter’s name was manually recorded, the data entry employee marked the voter’s name off the
electronic system list.
In accordance with IEC executive instructions, voters were given two pre-printed ballots, one for
district level candidates with photos of the candidates and another for the national list with symbols
and numbers denoting the specific lists. These changes served to reduce instances of “whisper
voting,” where in past elections voters claiming to be illiterate shouted out their vote choice,
ostensibly to inform the polling official who was helping them but in reality proving that they had
voted the “right way” in order to garner some reward. According to IRI post-election polling, the
new process proved popular with voters, particularly the option of putting a check next to the
voter’s desired candidate (nearly 70 percent), rather than writing in the candidate’s name (32
percent).
Voters with disabilities who were unable to vote on their own received assistance from
an escort of their choice. Voters uniformly cast two ballots, even if they only recorded a vote on
one ballot.
After each ballot was placed in its respective ballot box, voters had their left index
finger dipped in indelible ink.
The sometimes casual placement of voting booths opened the potential for irregularities and did not
always safeguard secrecy of voting. Voting booths composed of cardboard cutouts sometimes faced
the open room and in several stations, polling staff were eager to help voters filling in or folding
their ballots. Some voters also voluntarily voted in a public manner. This included filling in their
ballots next to the voting booth on the open table, showing the ballot to candidate agents before
folding it, or handing the ballot to the ballot box officer to get help folding it, thus raising suspicions
40
International Republican Institute Poll.
Jordan Post-Election Public Opinion Survey
. 4-7 March 2013. p. 23.
41
According to IEC figures, blank ballots for the national list amounted to 12 percent of ballots cast; for district voting,
blank ballots accounted for eight percent of votes cast.
