Palestinian Election Commission launches voter registration process for 1st time in 15 years

The head of the elections commission, Hanna Nasir, said in a speech broadcast on the official website of the election commission on Wednesday that the voter registration process is "one of the main stages of the official electoral process, which extends until the evening of February 16th."

He added, "The number of persons who registered has reached about 2.4 million citizens so far constituting 85 percent of the number of citizens eligible to register, which is a high percentage."

Nasser added, "Starting today, we will open 80 information and voter registration centers in a number of schools. During the field registration period, the committee will provide field teams consisting of 600 male and female employees spread across all governorates of the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

He explained that the members of these teams "are equipped with electronic tablets to help citizens register their names electronically, or inquire about their previous registration information and amend their polling place if their place of residence is changed."

In his speech, Nasser expected that the percentage of those registering their names would rise to 90 percent with the close of registration.

According to Nasser, the high turnout of citizens for electronic registration since the issuance of the presidential decree is conclusive evidence of the people's hunger to participate in the elections and choose whoever represents them in decision-making positions.

He added that this "would restore hope for an end to the division and the return of democracy to the territories of Palestine

J.O