Jordan's poll turnout 54 per cent, vote-counting starts (Roundup)

Nov 20, 2007, 18:19 GMT

Amman - Ballot boxes in Jordan's parliamentary elections were closed as scheduled at 7pm Tuesday, but polling was extended in five Amman constituencies for two hours, apparently because turnout was low there, Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez announced.

He said counting of votes started immediately after the closure of the ballot boxes in 40 constituencies.

Al-Fayez told reporters 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.

The turnout was as low as 28 per cent in some of the capital's constituencies before the extension of the polling for another two hours as provided for in the law, officials said.

The low turnout here and other major cities reflected frustration on the part of most-educated citizens over the government's failure to amend the elections law, an Amman-based diplomat said.

The Islamic-led opposition charged the controversial election law, according to which the new polls were conducted, encouraged tribalism and factionalism and retarded the growth of genuine political life.

About 3.5 million Jordanians are eligible to vote under the law, but only 2.5 million citizens registered their names before the deadline expired.

The Interior Minister said that a number of people were arrested 'for trying to undermine the polling process' and that they would be referred to the judicial authorities.

He did not give further details, but the official Petra news agency said that 15 people were arrested in the Balqa governorate, 15 kilometres west of Amman, for 'manipulating voting cards'.

Al-Fayez expected results to start going out after a few hours, but said he would address a press conference on Wednesday to announce the official results.

Earlier in the day, the government's official spokesman Nasser Judeh denied charges by the Islamic Action Front (IAF), the country's largest political party, of 'basic violations' during balloting.

He said that the charges were nothing more than 'rumours which lacked evidence'. However, Judeh conceded that two cases of vote buying were spotted and that at least two persons involved were referred to the judiciary.

A total of 885 candidates, including 199 women, competed for the lower house's 110 seats, six of which are designated for women under a quota system adopted in 2003.

A coalition of 15 civil society organizations decided earlier this week not to monitor the polls, saying the government had denied them adequate access to the polling centres, including the supervision of the casting and counting of votes.