Palestine opens registration for Nov. 28 legislative vote

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission opened Saturday registration for candidate lists for the Nov. 28 legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the commission said it began receiving candidacy applications as of 8 am local time (0500GMT) at its headquarters in the central West Bank city of Al-Bireh and its offices in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah.

It said the process will continue for 12 days through Oct. 7, citing "strong interest" from candidates at its offices in Ramallah and Deir al-Balah.

According to the commission, candidates for the Legislative Council (parliament) will run only through electoral lists, while individual candidacies will not be accepted.

Each list must have at least 16 and no more than 132 candidates.

The commission stressed that lists must comply with the legally mandated minimum representation of women, requiring at least one woman among the first three names on the list and one woman among every subsequent group of three candidates.

It said candidacy application must be submitted by the list's coordinator and authorized representative after completing the required forms and submitting the necessary documents and attachments.

Applications will be reviewed and scrutinized to ensure they meet legal requirements, the commission stated, noting that submitting an application does not mean it has been accepted or approved.

According to the election timetable approved by the commission, campaigning will begin on Nov. 6, while early voting for security forces will take place on Nov. 26.

On July 9, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree setting Nov. 28 as the date for legislative elections in East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, marking the first such vote since 2006.

The Palestinian Legislative Council has been inactive since 2007 following an internal Palestinian rift, and the Supreme Constitutional Court issued a ruling to dissolve it in 2018.

Legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 2021 were cancelled after Abbas postponed the vote, citing the lack of Israeli approval to guarantee the participation of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem.

The upcoming elections will be the third for the Palestinian Legislative Council, following those held in 1996 and 2006. The next council will have 132 seats.