The Palestinian Central Elections Commission has opened registration for candidate lists ahead of the November 28 legislative elections, the first such vote in two decades.
Applications began at 0800 AM local time (0500GMT) on Saturday at the commission’s headquarters in Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank and its offices in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the commission said in a statement.
Registration will remain open for 12 days until October 7. The commission reported “strong interest” from prospective candidates.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree on July 9 setting the election date for occupied East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The vote will elect a 132-seat Palestinian Legislative Council. According to the commission, candidates for the council will run only through electoral lists, while individual candidacies will not be accepted. Each list must include between 16 and 132 candidates.
The commission also 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.
Applications must be submitted by each list’s coordinator and authorised representative, accompanied by the required forms and supporting documents.
First election since 2006
The commission said all applications would be reviewed for compliance with legal requirements, noting that submitting an application does not mean it has been accepted or approved.
Campaigning will begin on November 6, with early voting for security forces scheduled for November 26.
The election will be the third for the Palestinian Legislative Council, following votes in 1996 and 2006.
The council has been inactive since 2007 following an internal Palestinian rift. The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled to dissolve it in 2018.
Legislative and presidential elections planned for 2021 were called off after Abbas postponed the vote, citing the lack of Israeli approval to guarantee Palestinian participation in occupied East Jerusalem.
