Palestinian election body opens online register

The Palestinian Central Elections Commission announced on Monday launching a nationwide campaign for electronic registration.

The campaign comes in synchronization with the Commission's update of voter register in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, targeting high school students who have reached their legal age and are able to practice their voting rights.

Head of Central Elections Commission Hanna Nasir said in a press conference that online registration targets those who hold national ID cards, whether they are living in the West Bank or abroad.

It is part of the Commission's plan to introduce electronic voting in the future. Meanwhile, it is utilized in order to save time, efforts and costs, Nasir added.

He clarified that the online register procedures are in line with the Palestinian basic law and will not replace the manual procedure used previously.

The registration application is now open for all Palestinians provided they have not registered before, hold a national ID card and are above 17 years old, Nasir said.

Along with the registration campaign, the commission has launched a promotional campaign through social media platforms and local media outlets, aiming at raising awareness of the new voter register.

The latest voter register announced by the commission showed that 1,951,799 are registered voters, composing 78.6 percent of the population.

The last legislative elections were held in the Palestinian territories in January 2006, won over by Hamas movement, one year after current President Mahmoud Abbas was voted as president. Endit