2020 Jordanian general election
10 November 2020 (2020-11-10)
130 seats in the House of Representatives
65 seats needed for a majority
Turnout29.88%
  First party Second party
 
IAF
ICP
Leader Hamza Mansour Hamam Saeed
Party IAF ICP
Seats before 10 5
Seats won 5 5
Seat change Decrease5 Steady

General elections were held in Jordan on 10 November 2020 to elect the members of the nineteenth House of Representatives.[1][2] Voter turnout was just 29.88%, the lowest in a decade.[3]

The elections took place as the country was experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. As a result there were numerous calls on social media channels to boycott the elections, particularly as no alternatives to in-person voting were offered.[4][5] The country went into a four-day total lockdown following elections, starting at 23:00 on election day, an hour later than the originally-stated 22:00.[6][7] According to Washington Post, "wealthy business executives and tribal independents dominated, while strong, reform-oriented members of parliament lost their seats."

Electoral system

The 130 seats in the House of Representatives consist of 115 members elected by open list proportional representation from 23 constituencies of between three and nine seats in size and 15 seats reserved for women.[8] Nine of the 115 proportional representation seats are reserved for the Christian minority, with another three reserved for the Chechen and Circassian minorities.[8]

There were 15 seats reserved for women who received the most votes but failed to be elected on their list in each of the twelve governorates and the three Badia districts.[9]

Contesting parties

A total of 294 party lists with 1,703 candidates contested the elections,[10] including the Islamic Action Front, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood,[11] and the "Progressive" list, a coalition of socialist and nationalist parties including the Arab Ba'ath Progressive Party, Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Jordanian Communist Party, Jordanian Democratic People's Party and the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party.

Conduct

Polls opened at 07:00, and were supposed to close at 19:00. However the closing was extended by two hours, with the voting window totalling 14 hours.[12] The Independent Elections Commission has denied that the time extension was due to low turnout.[13]

More than 4.5 million Jordanians were eligible to vote in 23 constituencies. But only 1.38 million people, or 29.9 percent, voted – down from 36 percent turnout in 2016.[14]

Results

According to Washington Post, "wealthy business executives and tribal independents dominated, while strong, reform-oriented members of parliament lost their seats. Broader-based coalitions fared poorly. Less than 10 percent of the 130 members of the next parliament will be from political parties. The most influential opposition party, the IAF, lost almost half of its seats. No women were elected beyond the 15-seat quota allotted them, though five had done so in the last election. Only 15 percent of those elected are under 40".[15] A total of 1,387,698 votes have been cast, corresponding to a turnout of 29.88%.[16]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Islamic Action Front5–5
Islamic Centre Party50
Jordanian United Front Party1+1
National Loyalty Party1+1
Independents[lower-alpha 1]118+19
Total1300
Registered voters/turnout4,647,835–
Source: IPU, KAS
  1. ↑ includes 6 people affiliated with the Islamic Action Front and 1 person affiliated with the Islamic Centre Party.

References

  1. ↑ Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: Election for Majlis al-Nuwaab (Jordanian House of Deputies) IFES
  2. ↑ "Jordan's elections explained in 500 words". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ↑ "نسبة الاقتراع النهائية 29.9% بعد إغلاق الصناديق في الانتخابات النيابية". قناة المملكة (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  4. ↑ "Jordan's elections explained in 500 words". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. ↑ "Jordan votes amidst strict COVID-19 measures". Middle East Monitor. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  6. ↑ "Jordan holds parliamentary elections amid virus surge". AP News. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  7. ↑ "بدء 4 أيام من حظر التجول الشامل". قناة المملكة (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  8. 1 2 Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: Election for Majlis al-Nuwaab (Jordanian House of Deputies) 2016 IFES
  9. ↑ Electoral System IPU
  10. ↑ ""المستقلة": 294 قائمة و1703 مرشحين للانتخابات والأسماء تنشر الليلة". Alghad (in Arabic). 16 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Jordan faces virus-era polls in crisis mode". France24. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "إقبال ضعيف على التصويت.. إغلاق صناديق الاقتراع بالانتخابات البرلمانية في الأردن". Al Jazeera (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ↑ ""المستقلة للانتخاب": تمديد فترة التصويت مرتبط بكثافة الاقتراع". قناة المملكة (in Arabic). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ↑ "Women, opposition lose seats in Jordan election". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "The pandemic compromised Jordan's parliamentary elections". Washington Post. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "Assessment of the 2020 Parliamentary Elections in Jordan". Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
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