Elections in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: 2024 Parliamentary Elections

• Election Day: September 10, 2024.
• Registered voters: 5,115,219 voters (52.6 percent women).
• Polling stations: 1,649 voting centers with 5,843 polling stations.
• Seats: 138 seats in the House of Representatives – Lower House.
• Candidate lists:
  • 25 lists with 686 candidates competing for 41 seats in the national electoral district; and
  • 172 lists with 937 candidates competing for 97 seats in 18 local electoral districts.
• Candidates: 1,623.  
• Campaign expenditures:
  • 100,000 Jordanian dinars (JoD) ($141,105 USD) per list running in one of the 18 local electoral districts and
  • 500,000 JoD ($705,526 USD) per list running in the national electoral district.
• Domestic and international observers:
  • 20 local observation groups deploying approximately 4,500 local observers and
  • One international observation mission deploying 28 long-term and 100 short-term observers.
• 150 local and international media outlets accredited to cover the elections.

Following a royal decree issued on April 24 calling for the organization of parliamentary elections, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) has set September 10, 2024, as the election date. According to the country’s Constitution, these elections must take place within four months of the end of a four-year parliamentary term, which will conclude in November. The last parliamentary election occurred in November 2020. The elections will be held at 1,649 voting centers, with a total of 5,843 polling stations.

These parliamentary elections are particularly significant as they are the first to occur after the passage of the 2022 constitutional amendments and the adoption of new electoral and political party laws. The changes were initiated by the Royal Committee to Modernize the Political System, established by the king in June 2021, to propose reforms to improve governance, increase the participation of youth and women, and modernize Jordan’s political framework.

The 2022 amendments, the fourteenth since the Constitution's inception in 1952, introduced several key changes. They expanded the king's powers, allowing him to appoint and dismiss key judicial figures such as the chief justice and the head of the Judicial Council, along with high-ranking officials like the chief of the Royal Hashemite Court, without needing the countersignature of the prime minister or relevant ministers. A newly created National Security Council comprises the prime minister, minister of defense, minister of foreign affairs, minister of interior, army commander, director of the General Intelligence Department, director of the Public Security Directorate, and two members appointed by the king. The council has significant authority over security, defense, and foreign policy matters. The amendments also empowered the Independent Election Commission to oversee the establishment of political parties. Other changes included updating constitutional language to explicitly mention "Jordanian Men and Women" and emphasizing the state's commitment to women’s empowerment, equal opportunities, and protection from discrimination. The amendments also lowered the minimum age for parliamentary membership from 30 to 25 years.

Jordanian voters are set to elect 138 members to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Jordanian Parliament, for a four-year mandate. The bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Representatives, whose 138 members are directly elected (an increase of eight seats from 2020), and the Senate, comprising 65 members appointed by the king. The House of Representatives term begins on the date when election results are published in the official gazette. The king holds the authority to extend the term of the House for one to two additional years by royal decree. Senators, like members of the House of Representatives, serve four-year terms.

The king also retains the power to dissolve Parliament. Under Article 73 of the Constitution, new elections must be held in time for newly elected members to convene within four months of dissolution. If elections cannot be held within this period, the dissolved House of Representatives will be reinstated and continue to serve until new members are elected. On July 25, the king dissolved the House of Representatives ahead of the September 10 election.

Every Jordanian citizen who has reached the age of 18 at least 90 days before Election Day is entitled to vote in the House of Representatives elections. However, voting rights are suspended for members of the Jordanian Armed Forces, the General Intelligence Service, the Public Security Department, gendarmeries, and the Civil Defense while they are on active service (civil contractors to those organizations may vote). Individuals who have been declared bankrupt and have not yet been legally rehabilitated, or who lack civil and legal capacity, are also ineligible to vote.

In a July 24 press conference, following the voter registration and complaints period, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the total number of registered voters as 5,115,219, including 52.6 percent women. The IEC also reported 590,794 (11.54 percent) first-time voters. Voters under age 25 total 1,119,832 of the electorate (21.9 percent), while 2,323,478 (45.4 percent) are under age 35.

Until 2016, Jordan was among the few countries still utilizing the single non-transferable vote system. This system, long criticized for its limitations, was replaced in 2016 by an open list proportional representation system – a system under which voters cast their ballots for both the list of their choice and the candidate(s) of their choice within that list.  Amendments also included reducing the number of parliamentary seats from 150 to 130. The change was intended to foster a more representative electoral process, a structure that remained in place for the 2020 elections. Under this system, 103 of the 130 seats were allocated through open list proportional representation across 23 electoral districts, with the remaining 27 seats reserved for women and minority groups elected under a majority/plurality system.

The new 2022 electoral law introduced significant changes aimed at further modernizing Jordan's political framework. It lowered the candidacy age from 30 to 25, added eight seats to the House of Representatives, and introduced a mixed electoral system. Under this new system:

• Ninety-seven of the 138 seats represent 18 local electoral districts through an open list proportional representation system. Of those seats, 18 are reserved for women (one per local electoral district), seven for Christians, and two for members of the Chechen and Circassian minorities. To win seats in the 18 local districts, lists must secure at least 7 percent of the total votes cast in their district. A minimum of two lists must pass the threshold in districts with two competitive seats and a minimum of three lists must pass the threshold in districts with three or more competitive seats. If the threshold is not met by enough lists to fill the allocated seats, it will be reduced by one percent increments until the minimum required number of lists qualify. The number of deputies elected from each local electoral district will range from three to 10. The largest remainder formula[1] is used to allocate the competitive seats. Reserved seats will be allocated using a plurality/majority system.  

• The remaining 41 seats are allocated at the national level based on a closed list proportional representation system where voters express their preference only for a list representing a political party or coalition. Those seats are reserved for political parties and alliances, ensuring that – for the 2024 elections – a minimum of 30 percent of parliamentary seats are occupied by party-affiliated representatives.[2] Within this national allocation, two seats are reserved for Christians and one for members of the Chechen and Circassian minorities. Party lists must include at least one woman among the first three candidates, and one among the next three candidates. Each party list must include at least one candidate under age 35 among its top five candidates. To secure seats at the national level, party lists must garner at least 2.5 percent of the total votes cast. A minimum of three lists must pass the threshold. If fewer than three party lists meet this threshold, it will be lowered by 0.5 percent increments until at least three lists qualify. The largest remainder formula is used to allocate seats.

Voters in the upcoming election will receive two ballots – one for their local electoral district and another for the national electoral district.

[1] Under the largest remainder formula, seats are allocated to lists based on an established electoral quota, with lists receiving seats equivalent to the number of times they reach the full quota. The remaining seats are allocated to lists with the largest number of remaining votes after subtracting the number of votes allocated through the quota.

[2] The new election law stipulates a gradual increase in the number of seats allocated to the national electoral district and political parties in future elections. By the time the twenty-second Parliament is elected (projected for 2028), at least 50 percent of the 138 seats are to be allocated to parties and party alliances. For the elections of the twenty-third parliament (projected for 2032), at least 65 percent of the 138 seats are to be allocated to parties and party alliances (Article 71).

The legal framework for the House of Representatives is contained in the Jordanian Constitution which was last amended in 2022.

The 2024 Parliamentary elections are primarily governed by the Election Law for the Lower House of the Parliament Law No. 4 of 2022, the Independent Election Commission Law N.11/2012 (as amended in 2015), and the Political Party Law No. 7 of 2022. In addition, the Independent Election Commission issued a series of executive instructions, regulating key procedural and operational aspects established by Jordan’s legal electoral framework.

To be eligible to run as a candidate for membership in the House of Representatives, a person must have completed 25 calendar years of age 90 days prior to the Election Day, have been a Jordanian national for at least 10 years, and be registered in the final Voter Lists.

A voter is not qualified to be a candidate if he or she:

• Has been sentenced for bankruptcy and has not gained rehabilitated legal status;[1]
• Has been sentenced to imprisonment for more than one year for a non-political crime and has not been pardoned;
• Is without civil and legal capacity;
• Is a relative of the king to the degree assigned by special legislation; or
• Is a contractor to the government, an official public institution, a company owned or controlled by the government, or any official public institution, regardless of whether the contracting is direct or indirect.[2]

Prospective candidates who hold certain public positions must resign at least 60 days before Election Day.[3]

Any public employee wishing to run for a seat in the House of Representatives must request unpaid leave from his or her employer 90 days before Election Day. Candidates who exploit their public offices risk invalidating their candidacy. Winning candidates must officially resign from their jobs as of the announcement of election results in the official gazette.

Candidates running in a local electoral district are required to pay a non-refundable deposit of 500 JoD ($705 USD) while lists running in the national electoral district are required to pay 5,000 JoD ($7,055 USD).

Additionally, local electoral lists must pay a security deposit of 500 JoD ($705 USD), and national lists 2,000 JoD ($2,822 USD) to guarantee their adherence to campaign regulations. The deposits are refundable unless campaign rules are violated.

A candidate cannot run for the House of Representatives in more than one electoral district or on more than one list. Members of political parties are restricted from running on multiple lists in the national electoral district or on behalf of different parties. To be eligible to run on a party list, a member must have been affiliated with the party for at least six months prior to Election Day.

[1] A bankrupt individual may be rehabilitated through two methods: (1) Rehabilitation by Law: This occurs automatically without the need for any request or legal action, provided that the bankruptcy was not due to fraud or negligence and that ten years have passed since the declaration of bankruptcy; and (2) Judicial Rehabilitation: This requires a formal request to the court. The court will consider whether the individual has fulfilled all financial obligations to creditors. A minimum of five years must pass before the individual can apply, and all creditors must have been fully paid or released from their claims.

[2] A voter is prohibited from running for election if he or she is a contractor with the government, official public institutions, public organizations, or companies owned or controlled by the government, either directly or indirectly. A voter is also prohibited if he or she is leasing or selling any of his/her assets with these entities, except for those involved in leasing contracts of land or properties or if he or she is a stakeholder in a company owned, co-owned or controlled by the government with shares not exceeding 5 percent. Eligible candidates are prohibited from intervening in contracts made by the company with the aforementioned entities.

[3] This requirement applies to ministers; the speaker and members of the Senate; head and members of the Constitutional Court; ordinary and Sharia judges; employees of Arab, regional, and international bodies; the mayor and members of the Amman Municipality Council, heads and members of governorate and municipal councils; ambassadors; the chairman, commissioners, and members of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission; holders of higher category jobs according to the Civil Service Bureau's classification; and administrative executives in the Ministry of Interior.

937 candidates on 172 lists are competing for the 97 seats allocated to the 18 local electoral districts. Of those candidates, 190 are women (20 percent) and 56 are under age 35 (6 percent). Fifty-seven candidates are competing for the seven seats allocated for Christians, 19 are competing for the two seats allocated for Chechens and Circassians, and 166 are competing for the 18 seats reserved for women. An additional 24 women are competing for competitive seats outside the quota system.

686 candidates on 25 lists are competing for the 41 seats allocated to the national electoral district. Of those candidates, 187 are women (27 percent) and 154 are under age 35 (22 percent). Thirty-two candidates are competing for the two seats allocated for Christians and 11 are competing for the seat allocated for Chechens and Circassians.

Thirty-six of Jordan’s 38 licensed political parties will field candidates on lists running for local electoral districts or the national electoral district.

Within seven days of the acceptance of candidacy, each list must open a bank account to manage campaign resources and expenses. All funds allocated for the campaign must be deposited into the account and are limited to specifically defined purposes. Each list must appoint a certified accountant to review its financial records, verifying both the sources and expenditures of the campaign funds. The accountant is required to provide a detailed report to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) upon request.

The maximum allowable campaign expenditures are:

• 100,000 JoD ($141,105 USD) per list for local electoral districts; and
• 500,000 JoD ($705,526 USD) per list for the national electoral district.

Campaign expenses include:

• Registration fees and related legal costs;
• Costs of advertising, publications, election materials, and their distribution;
• Expenses for organizing meetings, compensating service providers, and managing campaign logistics, including transportation;
• Fees for services related to the campaign's digital presence;
• Compensation for polling agents and delegates;
• Expenses for removing campaign advertisements after the election; and
• Wages for campaign workers.

Any single campaign expense exceeding 500 JoD ($705 USD) must be paid by check or bank transfer. Splitting expenses to avoid this requirement is forbidden.

Candidates and lists are prohibited from offering or promising direct or indirect monetary or in-kind contributions to individuals during the campaign. Similarly, individuals may not request such contributions or promises from candidates and lists for themselves or others during the campaign.

Lists must submit their final financial reports to the IEC within 30 days of the publication of the election results in the official gazette. The IEC is then required to publish those reports on its website or another appropriate platform within 14 days of receiving them. To oversee campaign finance, the IEC chairman establishes a committee of representatives from relevant authorities to ensure the financial integrity and legality of election campaigns.[1]

The IEC may reject a list’s final financial report if it does not report all sources of campaign funding, contains discrepancies in financial records, includes forged documents, or indicates illegal funding. In such cases, the IEC may impose penalties on the candidates varying from requiring them to reimburse the Treasury for excess spending to disqualifying them from the next election or revoking their election to the House of Representatives. Penalties for exceeding campaign spending limits vary based on the amount. They include financial penalties and disqualification from future elections. Candidates have the right to appeal the IEC’s decisions in court, where a final ruling must be made within 30 days. The court’s decision in this regard shall be final.

While there are campaign spending limits in for lists in Jordan, the election law does not cap campaign donations. However, lists and candidates must report any material or in-kind donations they receive from entities or individuals before and during the campaign to the auditor, ensuring the donations are included in financial reports. The election law does not include regulations regarding donations, but the political parties law prohibits parties from receiving any funding, grants, or cash or in-kind donations from foreign countries, non-Jordanian entities, or non-Jordanian persons; any unknown sources; and official or public institutions, or companies in which the government owns 51 percent or more of the shares.

Under the new political parties law and its bylaws, public funding grants each political party 5,000 JoD ($7,055 USD) every four years to cover its general assembly expenses. Additionally, a party receives 30,000 JoD ($42,331 USD) if it secures 50 percent or more of the electoral threshold in the national electoral district; 10,000 JoD ($14,110 USD) for each seat won; and an additional 2,000 JoD ($2,882 USD) for each candidate who is a woman, youth, or person with a disability. A similar arrangement is in place for local elections.

Coalitions receive 30,000 JoD ($42,331 USD) if they secure 50 percent or more of the electoral threshold in the national electoral district and 10,000 JoD ($14,110 USD) for each seat won, with the amount divided equally among the allied parties. To encourage mergers, coalitions receive 10,000 JoD ($14,110 USD) for every two parties that merge, and an additional 5,000 JoD ($7,055 USD) for each additional party that joins the coalition.

The maximum contribution of public funding for each party is set at 120,000 JOD ($169,324 USD).

[1] The committee's tasks include monitoring campaign financing, ensuring adherence to spending limits, verifying the accuracy of financial reports, and auditing final financial statements. The committee receives periodic reports from audit and monitoring teams, which collect financial data, ensure proper management of campaign funds, monitor social media and media coverage, and handle complaints related to the campaigns. The duties of each list’s certified accountant include verifying the accuracy of financial entries, ensuring proper documentation, checking that expenditures above 500 JoD are paid by check or bank transfer, and monitoring compliance with spending limits. The accountant must also ensure that the bank balance matches the list’s recorded balance and report any discrepancies to the committee. He or she must report any violations, authenticate the final financial report, and submit it to the Jordanian Association of Certified Public Accountants for approval.

Jordan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) is an autonomous body with full legal, financial, and administrative independence. It manages and oversees all aspects of parliamentary, municipal, and other elections as required by law.

The IEC was founded in 2012 and began building its organizational structure in parallel with preparations for the first parliamentary elections that it conducted in January 2013. In 2014, constitutional amendments expanded the IEC’s role to include conducting and supervising local elections and other general elections in addition to elections requested by the government. A 2022 constitutional amendment further expanded the IEC’s mandate to “consider applications for the establishment of political parties and monitor their affairs,” transferring this authority from the Ministry of Political Affairs. In addition to administrating elections, the commission is responsible for approving parties’ licenses, following up with them, and ensuring that they abide by the law and the Constitution.

The Board of Commissioners consists of five members, including a chairperson, appointed by the king to six-year terms. One current member is a woman.

The board is responsible for establishing the IEC's general policies, setting the election date, and adopting a detailed electoral timeline along with the necessary plans for executing the elections. It oversees voter and candidate registration, including updates and dispute resolution, and is tasked with publishing the voter register. The board develops and enforces campaign and media regulations, promotes voter awareness and political participation, and appoints heads and members of committees essential to the electoral process. It also defines technical specifications for ballots, ballot boxes, and ink, and manages the accreditation process for local civil society organizations, media, local and international observers, and candidate agents. Additionally, the board announces the final election results and approves registration licenses for political parties.

The board appoints a general secretary to manage the executive body, develop the organizational structure and prepare the annual budget and report.

For these parliamentary elections, the IEC has established 18 district electoral commissions (DECs) and 55 sub-DECs to manage elections for the local electoral districts. In addition, an Amman-based committee manages the tabulation of results for the national electoral district.

Jordan’s new electoral law introduces several key reforms intended to enhance women’s political representation in the upcoming elections. It mandates that 18 of the 97 seats in local electoral districts be reserved for women – one per district. This is three seats more than in the 2020 elections, when only 15 of the 23 districts elected a female representative. The law also introduces mandatory preferential placement for women and youth on lists running in the national electoral district. A list must include at least one woman among the top three candidates and another among the next three candidates. It also mandates that each list include a candidate aged 35 or younger within the top five candidates.

While the Constitution does not specifically grant special status to minority groups, the electoral law provides for the representation of three minority groups – Christians, Circassians, and Chechens – through 12 reserved seats.  Nine of these seats (seven for Christians and two for Chechens and Circassians) are distributed across eight of the 18 local electoral districts. The three remaining seats (two for Christians and one for Chechens and Circassians) are allocated at the national level, with no upper limit on their representation.

In local electoral districts, seats reserved for women, Christians, Circassians, and Chechens are awarded based on the highest vote counts received by candidates from lists that meet the electoral threshold. If no candidates are running for these reserved seats on the qualified lists, the winners are those running for these reserved seats who have received the highest number of votes among all local lists.

At the national level, the reserved seats for Christians, Circassians, and Chechens are filled from the lists that qualify to win seats after passing the 2.5 percent threshold. If any Christian, Circassian, or Chechen candidates are among the first 38 seats filled, they are not counted toward their reserved seats. Instead, the reserved seats are allocated to minority candidates from the highest-ranking lists, based on their position on those lists. This approach treats the reserved seats as a minimum threshold for minority representation rather than a ceiling.

To enhance the participation of persons with disabilities, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As part of this initiative, the IEC implemented a series of measures, including equipping 95 schools as model polling stations to accommodate people with disabilities. Volunteers will be assigned to those stations on Election Day to assist voters with disabilities. The IEC allows persons with disabilities to change their assigned voting places through the Sanad app[1] or the IEC website. The IEC has also taken steps to improve its communication efforts by adding sign language to its awareness videos and producing a video on interacting with persons with disabilities on Election Day.

[1] Sanad is the official gateway to digital government services and digital identity in Jordan.

The current electoral law makes no provisions for out-of-country voting. As a result, an estimated 1 million Jordanians living abroad will not be able to participate in the election process unless they return to Jordan to cast their vote.

Candidates and appointed delegates from electoral lists are permitted to be present at polling stations when they open, and during polling and counting. Domestic civil society organizations and international observers can also be accredited through an application process accessed on the IEC website to monitor the electoral process.

Approximately 20 local observation groups have been accredited to observe the 2024 parliamentary elections, deploying around 4,500 local observers. The European Union is deploying an observation mission consisting of 28 long-term and 100 short-term observers.

After polling ends, votes are counted at the polling station level by the polling and counting committee in the presence of accredited journalists, candidates and their agents, and local and international observers. The committee starts with the ballot box containing the votes for the local electoral district and then counts the votes for the national electoral district.

The committee chair or another designated member reads the votes aloud. Each vote is clearly displayed with a projector. The votes received by each list and each candidate within each list are recorded and shown on a screen.

Once vote counting at the polling stations is complete, the committee prepares results protocols for the local and national electoral districts. These reports are signed by the committee chair, its members, and any attending candidates or their representatives who wish to sign them. The results are then entered into the results management system, which automatically displays them on the IEC website. Copies of the electronic forms are printed after cross-checking them with the manual forms.

Manual and electronic copies of the results protocols are sent to the head of the polling and counting center. One copy is placed in a sealed envelope to be forwarded to the District Election Committee (DEC), and the second is used for tabulation at the center level. A third copy is posted on the door of the polling station, and additional copies are distributed to the candidates and party agents present.

The head of the polling and counting center then tabulates the results at the center level, posts the protocols on the center’s door, and sends copies to the DEC.

The DECs tabulate the results, calculate the electoral threshold, and allocate the seats for competitive and reserved seats in the local electoral district. A copy of the results protocol is then sent to the committee responsible for tabulating the results for the national electoral district. The DEC announces the preliminary results for the local electoral district and sends a copy to the IEC.

The committee responsible for the national electoral district tabulates the national results, calculates the threshold, allocates the competitive and reserved seats, and announces the preliminary results. A copy is then sent to the IEC.

The IEC reviews the results from both the local and national electoral districts and announces the final results.

There is no binding deadline for the publication of preliminary or final results. Once District Election Committees and the committee responsible for tabulating the national electoral district results tabulate their results, they announce the preliminary results and send them to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) Board of Commissioners, which reviews them before making an announcement.

If, before announcing the final results, the IEC finds that an error occurred in polling or counting at any voting center that could affect the preliminary election results in the electoral district, it has the right to cancel the preliminary results for that center, repeat polling and counting at a designated time and in a manner it deems appropriate. In this case, the announcement of preliminary results for the relevant local electoral district and the national electoral district are delayed.

Any concerned party can appeal the board’s decision on canceling the results of any voting center to the Court of Appeal within the electoral district's jurisdiction within two days of the issuance of the decision. The court will resolve the appeal within three days of its registration, and its decision will be final and binding. The board is required to comply with the court's decision within one day of the appeal's resolution.

Once the board approves the preliminary election results for the local and national electoral districts and the reserved seats, the results become final. The board announces the final election results, which are then published in the official gazette. The IEC president issues a certificate of victory to each winner in the elections.

Official election results announced by the IEC cannot be challenged as such, but the validity of the election of winning parliamentarians can be contested in the Court of Appeal within fifteen days from the date of the publication of final election results in the official gazette. The ruling of the Court of Appeal, which must be handed down within 30 days from the date of notification of the petition, is final. The court can either reject or accept the appeal. In case the appeal has merit, the court announces the new winning candidate. The House of Representatives then declares the annulment of the membership of the deputy whose election has been invalidated by the court, and announces the name of the new winning candidate, effective from the date of the court's ruling.  If the court finds that the election procedures in the contested district did not comply with the law, it may annul the election in that district.

Official Website of the Independent Election Commission: https://www.iec.jo/ar.

These FAQs reflect decisions made by the Independent Election Commission as of September 3, 2024, to the best of our knowledge. This document does not represent any International Foundation for Electoral Systems policy or technical recommendations.