Palestine Records 64.7% Turnout in Local Elections’ First Round

Palestine's Central Election Committee reported a 64.7 percent turnout in the first phase of municipal elections held Saturday in the West Bank.

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Independent candidate lists won more than 70 percent of council seats while over 29 percent of the remaining council seats went to traditional political parties.

The nationalist Fatah led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas won 74 percent of the vote in the more than 150 municipalities where voting took place.

Elections were not held in 60 municipalities where there were no candidates or complete lists, and only one list was presented in 162 localities for each town. 

Voting only took place in 154 localities out of 376 because polls were not set up due to a lack of lists and candidates.

The municipal election's second phase is scheduled for March next year, when voting will take place in large cities such as Ramallah, Nablus, and Hebron.

The Islamist group Hamas announced in September its rejection of the elections called by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), claiming that general elections should have been called as well.