Description of Electoral System:

(courtesy of IFES Jordan)

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a hereditary monarchy with the King as Head of State. The system of government consists of a bicameral legislature, an executive (the Council of Ministers or Majlis al-Wizara) headed and appointed by the King, and an independent judiciary.

The bicameral legislature consists of an upper house, the Assembly of Senators (Majlis al-A'yan), and a lower house, the Council of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwwab). The 55 members of the Assembly of Senators are appointed by the King.  The 110 members of the Council of Deputies are elected by popular vote, using the following system:

•    The country is divided into 45 single and multi-member electoral districts.

•    Each voter can vote for only one candidate, irrespective of the number of seats available in the district. The candidates with the most votes are allocated the available seats. This is also called the “single non-transferrable vote” system. In Jordan, the system is often referred to as the “one vote system”.

•    Electoral Districts and seats are assigned through a regulation issued by the Council of Ministers (the regulations are issued in accordance articles 52 and 53 of the Temporary Electoral Law of No 34 of 2001, which has not yet been ratified by parliament. The elections of 2003 and 2007 were conducted in terms of this temporary law. The latest relevant regulation is Regulation 42 of 2001). The Council of Ministers also assigns seats to specific religious groups through this regulation.

Parliamentary Elections 2007

Parliamentary elections were held in Jordan on November 20, 2007 to elect representatives to the Chamber of Deputies of Jordan, which is comprised of 110 seats spread over 45 regional electoral districts, 3 closed tribal electoral districts and one national woman quota district. The Parliament guarantees a minimum of six seats for women, nine for Christians, and three for the Circassian and Chechen minorities.

Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez announced that the turnout exceeded 54 per cent when the ballot boxes were closed, with highest turnout of about 80 per cent in rural and Bedouin areas. click here

Did you Know

the government allowed civil society observation on elections, in the year 2007, for the first time

The National Center for Human Rights observed the November 2007 parliamentary elections, along with a number of civil society organizations. Training sessions were convened to hundreds of observers, throughout the 45 districts in 12 governorates.

the Jordanian Civil Team for Observing the Parliamentary Elections (JOCTOPE), presented by Al Urdun Al Jadid Research Center and the member NGOs in JOCADE coalition, carried out a comprehensive observation process of the Election Day of the 15th Jordanian Parliament. 

JOCTOPE will soon release its preliminary report on Local Independent Observation.