AMMAN: Polling stations across Jordan closed on Tuesday for municipal and governorate councils elections, which saw a modest voter turnout of less than 30 percent.
The Independent Election Commission said that 1.356 million people had cast their ballots by 7:00 p.m. local time, out of 4,602,135 eligible voters.
It added that voter turnout across the country reached 29.64 percent.
Jordan’s capital Amman, which has a population of more than 4.5 million, saw the lowest voter turnout with around 15 percent, according to the IEC. The highest turnout was in the northern city of Ajloun, which has a population of around 195,000 people.
The IEC, the national body overseeing elections in Jordan, said it would study the reasons for the capital’s apathy in elections.
Amman has always seen the lowest voter turnout in Jordanian parliamentary and municipal elections, with observers attributing it mainly to tribalism playing a less influential role in the capital and other metropolitan cities.
Arab News spoke to people in Amman who did not participate in the elections. They said their disinterest in the polls had to do with the failure of former representatives to bring about the desired changes whether in parliament or municipal councils.
Suha Faraj, 32, said candidates ran for elections “only to achieve some personal gains.”
“They just want to be there in parliament or municipalities to serve themselves. They are not there to benefit the country but to secure a job and prestige for themselves,” Faraj said.
The absence of fully-fledged partisan activity and programs in elections was the main reason for 42-year-old Adnan Abu Taha boycotting the polls.
“There is no encouraging atmosphere for participation,” he said. “We before had ‘so-called’ representatives in parliament or municipalities, but they just benefited themselves. That is the result of the absence of fully-fledged political parties with a well-defined agenda.”
“Why voter turnout is low in Amman and high in other cities is simply because there is still a strong influence outside the capital. People outside Amman just vote for their relatives regardless of their programs or agenda,” political commentator Khaled Qudah said.
A total of 4,644 candidates, including 846 women, registered for the 2022 municipal and local council elections.
The IEC said that around 5,000 people, including 100 international figures, monitored the elections.
