461 voting centers were opened on Saturday morning for the Palestinian municipal elections held in the occupied West Bank without occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
The number of the local councils in which several lists are competing is 145 and the number of those in which one list was nominated and won by acclamation is 181 while no elections will be held in 65 local councils.
The Palestinian Central Elections Commission announced the cessation of the election campaigns on Thursday 13 days after their announcement. An early voting was held for 11000 voters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in all provinces on Thursday. The voting rate reached 80.8%.
According to the Commission 1400 local and international observers will be part of the election process representing 70 local and international monitoring institutions.
The local elections are held in the West Bank without the Gaza Strip according to a decision by the PA government led by Rami Hamdallah under the pretext that Hamas refused holding them in the Gaza Strip.
The High Court in Ramallah decided in October 2016 to hold the elections in the West Bank only and exclude occupied Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip claiming that the Gaza courts of appeal are illegal.
Hamas Movement believes that postponing the elections in Gaza will entrench the division and affect the reconciliation efforts.
Hamas said that it will not participate in the current elections in the West Bank but called on the Palestinian people to vote and choose the best and most able to serve them away from any considerations or pressures.
The PIC reporter said that an average turnout is witnessed since the opening of the voting centers with expectations that the voting rate will increase in the afternoon.
He pointed to “usual” violations practiced by the candidates in their election campaigns launched in the streets and at the gates of the voting centers.
The northern West Bank province of Jenin witnesses the largest electoral activity in 23 voting centers according to the PIC reporter. The results in more than half of the centers were decided by acclamation.
