2020 Jordanian general election explained

General elections were held in Jordan on 10 November 2020 to elect the members of the nineteenth House of Representatives.^{[1] [2]} Voter turnout was just 30%, the lowest in a decade.^[3]

The elections took place as the country was experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. As a result there were numerous calls on social media channels to boycott the elections, particularly as no alternatives to in-person voting were offered.^{[4] [5]} The country went into a four-day total lockdown following elections, starting at 23:00 on election day, an hour later than the originally-stated 22:00.^{[6] [7]} According to the Washington Post, "wealthy business executives and tribal independents dominated, while strong, reform-oriented members of parliament lost their seats."

Electoral system

The 130 seats in the House of Representatives consist of 115 members elected by open list proportional representation from 23 constituencies of between three and nine seats in size and 15 seats reserved for women.^[8] Nine of the 115 proportional representation seats are reserved for the Christian minority, with another three reserved for the Chechen and Circassian minorities.^[8]

There were 15 seats reserved for women who received the most votes but failed to be elected on their list in each of the twelve governorates and the three Badia districts.^[9]

Distribution of seats! District !! General !! Circassians/
Chechens !! Christians !! Women !! Total

	3		1	1	5
Amman 1	5			1	6
Amman 2	6				6
Amman 3	4	1	1		6
Amman 4	4				4
Amman 5	6	1			7
	3			1	4
	8		2	1	11
Irbid 1	6				6
Irbid 2	4			1	5
Irbid 3	3		1		4
Irbid 4	5				5
	4			1	5
	8		2	1	11
	4			1	5
	3		1	1	5
	4			1	5
	4			1	5
Zarqa 1	6	1	1		8
Zarqa 2	4			1	5
Bedouins of the North	3			1	4
Bedouins of the Center	3			1	4
Bedouins of the South	3			1	4
Total	103	3	9	15	130

Contesting parties

A total of 294 party lists with 1,703 candidates contested the elections,^[10] including the Islamic Action Front, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood,^[11] and the "Progressive" list, a coalition of socialist and nationalist parties including the Arab Ba'ath Progressive Party, Jordanian Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Jordanian Communist Party, Jordanian Democratic People's Party and the Jordanian Democratic Popular Unity Party.

Conduct

Polls opened at 07:00 and were supposed to close at 19:00. However the closing was extended by two hours, with the voting window totalling 14 hours.^[12] The Independent Elections Commission has denied that the time extension was due to low turnout.^[13]

Results

According to the Washington Post, "wealthy business executives and tribal independents dominated, while strong, reform-oriented members of parliament lost their seats. Broader-based coalitions fared poorly. Less than 10 percent of the 130 members of the next parliament will be from political parties. The most influential opposition party, the IAF, lost almost half of its seats. No women were elected beyond the 15-seat quota allotted them, though five had done so in the last election. Only 15 percent of those elected are under 40".^[14] A total of 1,387,711 votes have been cast, corresponding to a turnout of 30%, down from 36% in 2016.^[15]

By district

Results by district
District	Registered	List	Votes	Seats
				General	Circassian/ Chechen	Christian	Women
align=left rowspan=15	Ajloun	114,980	Al-Rashid	10,988	1		1
Cooperation	9,891		1			1
Mount Ajloun	9,402		1
Right	8,349
The Job	7,087
Milk Thread	3,100
Thread of Pride	3,040
Reform	1,482
The Brave Women	318
Young	253
Future	235
Dignity and Renewal	131
Renaissance	100
Change	23
Invalid votes	2,416
align=left rowspan=14	Amman 1	322,052	National Reform	9,368	1			1
Right	7,693		1
Knights of Tomorrow	7,308		1
Reform	6,369		1
Justice List	4,800		1
Goodness	3,953
Youth Authenticity	3,035
My Homeland	1,383
First	1,101
National Direction	256
Bravery	170
Renaissance	164
Jordanian National	50
Invalid votes	2,102
align=left rowspan=19	Amman 2	443,281	The Elite	8,131	1
Integration	7,652		1
Bravery	6,957		1
Reform	6,500		1
Dawn	5,655		1
Change	5,316		1
Cooperation	4,900
Coming	4,559
Arabism	4,463
Knights of Jerusalem	2,986
The New Approach	1,242
Renaissance	760
My Homeland	473
Equality	250
Jerusalem is Arab	249
Knights	222
The Banner	143
Justice and Development	27
Invalid votes	987
align=left rowspan=19	Amman 3	266,126	Coming	6,999	1
Future Amman	5,331		1	1	1
Progress	4,898		1
Reform	4,598		1
Together	3,961
My Homeland	1,770
It's Time	530
Progressive	504
Tomorrow	462
My Dignity	450
Youth of the Nation	285
Aid	262
National Direction	218
The Message	173
We Deserve	156
Equality	68
Justice and Development	33
Renaissance	28
Invalid votes	298
align=left rowspan=17	Amman 4	283,367	The Ambition	10,870	1
Homeland	10,544		1
Holy Jerusalem	8,606		1
People	8,076		1
Blessed Al-Aqsa	7,985
Reform	6,379
Both Banks	4,690
Justice	4,506
Citizen	2,978
Achievement	2,525
People of Determination	1,382
The Call Amman	730
The Brave Ones	676
Initiative	546
Homeland Workers	476
Future	95
Invalid votes	1,451
align=left rowspan=14	Amman 5	414,680	Reform	9,111	1	1
Banner	8,105		1
Banner List	7,276		1
Glory	7,150		1
Morning	7,150		1
Determination	7,147		1
People	6,522
Inspiration	6,281
Homeland	4,182
Promise	1,757
Homeland Shield	1,278
Equality	1,175
The Message	899
Invalid votes	2,678
align=left rowspan=11	Aqaba	63,891	Consensus	4,259	1
The Brave Ones	4,135		1			1
Chivalry	3,842		1
Aqaba	3,565
The Morning Hours	2,600
Motherland	2,270
Fulfillment	1,462
Unit	896
Divine	319
People's Pulse	247
Invalid votes	532
align=left rowspan=19	Balqa	335,921	Justice	11,173	1
Jordan Tomorrow	11,145		1
Blessing is my Home	10,579		1
Dignity	9,703		1		1	1
Fulfillment	8,470		1
Knights of Balqa	8,113		1
The Union	7,632		1
Together for Renewal	7,543		1
Back	7,516
Sons of the Homeland	6,569
Glory of Balqa	6,168				1
The Banner	6,018
Youth of Accord	4,679
Reform Bloc	4,433
Covenant	4,111
Reconcile Balqa	2,715
The Charter	2,008
Jordanian National	120
Invalid votes	3,154
align=left rowspan=16	Irbid 1	362,347	Justice	11,119	1
Covenant	10,849		1
People	10,396		1
Cooperation	10,085		1
Light	9,138		1
Balance	7,734		1
Pure	7,115
Reform	7,061
Wall	6,099
Jerusalem	5,221
Irbid	5,194
Elite	4,849
Homeland	3,577
National Movement	843
My Homeland	587
Invalid votes	3,320
align=left rowspan=12	Irbid 2	164,410	Justice	13,901	1			1
Popularity	11,012		1
The Ambition	10,726		1
The Poor	8,342		1
Pulse of Change	7,923
Covenant	5,941
Rescue	5,617
The Kenana	5,616
Al-Yarmuk	2,267
Nashamat Hauran	120
Youth Ambition	29
Invalid votes	3,092
align=left rowspan=11	Irbid 3	128,219	My Homeland	11,671	1
The Charter	9,094		1
Light	7,566		1		1
The Union	6,729
Change	4,281
Covenant	2,903
Our Future	2,300
Accord	2,275
Cooperation	769
Aid	456
Invalid votes	2,071
align=left rowspan=13	Irbid 4	186,766	Knights	9,906	1
Fulfillment	8,903		1
The Union	8,789		1
Lemon	8,298		1
Change	7,933		1
Honesty	7,276
The Lion	6,223
Blessing	6,032
Young	5,465
The Train	5,439
Belonging	3,853
My Homeland	264
Invalid votes	3,366
align=left rowspan=9	Jerash	122,493	People of Determination	13,127	1			1
Renaissance	10,653		1
Change	8,635		1
Home for All	7,571		1
Jerash for All	7,292
Right	5,949
Reform	5,584
National Unity	1,273
Invalid votes	2,211
align=left rowspan=21	Karak	188,801	Reform	10,625	1			1
The Banner	9,354		1
Stability	9,294		1		1
People of Determination	9,005		1
Victory	8,001		1
Karak	7,138		1
Dignity	6,867		1		1
Sons of the Jordan Valley	6,328		1
Banner	6,196
Solidarity	5,312
Accord	4,762
Right	3,984
Trust	3,559
Balance	2,690
The Knight	2,355
Homeland Shield	1,329
Shayhan	1,275
Growth	1,184
The Castle	761
Divine Heroes	346
Invalid votes	2,691
align=left rowspan=10	Ma'an	59,359	Covenant	5,155	1
Future	4,653		1
Petra	4,277		1			1
Dignity	4,026		1
The Union	3,355
Loyalty to the Homeland	2,528
Light	1,883
Homeland	1,590
Shobak	1,404
Invalid votes	926
align=left rowspan=17	Madaba	119,404	Madaba	7,406	1
Determination	6,802		1
Change	6,372		1
Fulfillment	4,900				1	1
National Unity	3,890
Dhiban Brigade	3,713
Pride and Dignity	3,217
Homeland	3,005
Accord	2,789
Reform	2,632
The Voice of the True	1,966
Solidarity	1,470
Success	1,165
Origin and Stability	908
My Homeland	295
Block of Will	141
Invalid votes	3,155
align=left rowspan=8	Mafraq	109,688	The Brave Ones	10,343	1
Jerusalem is Arab	9,026		1			1
Light	7,941		1
Sons of Mafraq	7,723		1
Homeland	7,456
Dignity	2,217
Change	1,370
Invalid votes	3,673
align=left rowspan=10	Tafilah	63,067	Covenant	4,417	1
The Brave Ones	4,215		1
Right	4,068		1
Goodness	3,366		1
White	3,151
The Charter	3,009					1
Balance	2,550
Ears of Corn	2,275
The Banner	2,223
Invalid votes	1,793
align=left rowspan=20	Zarqa 1	506,604	People	14,413	1
The Decision	12,967		1	1	1
Justice	10,216		1
The Top	9,323		1
Reform	8,687		1
Determination	6,488		1
Dignity	6,151
My Homeland	2,153
Al-Aqsa	2,009
Fulfillment	1,645
Jordan Green	769
Renaissance	697
Shura	641
Zarqa Call	574
Renewal	554
National	319
Jordanian National	189
The Message	147
Arabic Appreciation	126
Invalid votes	1,557
align=left rowspan=13	Zarqa 2	148,627	Covenant	6,285	1
Zarqa Future	5,546		1			1
Renewal	5,389		1
People of Ambition	4,950		1
Loyalty to the Homeland	4,717
Jerusalem	3,914
Eye of the Homeland	3,684
Reform	2,415
Sons of Zarqa	1,953
Jordan Green	607
The Job	342
Good News my Country	28
Invalid votes	1,775
align=left rowspan=12	Bedouins of the North	98,026	Accord	9,546	1
Thunder of the North	7,887		1
Brotherhood	7,715		1			1
Banner	7,594
The Flame	6,973
Badia Union	6,526
Lion-Prepared	3,979
Basmat Alruwishad	1,524
Covenant	1,341
Youth of the Future	538
Starch of change	461
Invalid votes	1,487
align=left rowspan=12	Bedouins of the Middle	64,666	The Brave Ones	6,446	1			1
Covenant	4,739		1
Dawn	4,522		1
Compatibility	3,746
Success	3,649
Bravery	3,453
Unified	2,970
Change	2,763
Renewal	2,281
The Originals	989
Yes we Can	345
Invalid votes	758
align=left rowspan=5	Bedouins of the South	73,868	Fulfillment	14,502	1			1
Bright Future	12,266		1
Glory	10,776		1
Covenant	10,382
Invalid votes	633

Notes and References

1. http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/3290/ Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: Election for Majlis al-Nuwaab (Jordanian House of Deputies)
2. Web site: Jordan's elections explained in 500 words. 10 November 2020. Al Jazeera. en.
3. Web site: نسبة الاقتراع النهائية 29.9% بعد إغلاق الصناديق في الانتخابات النيابية. 10 November 2020. قناة المملكة. ar.
4. Web site: Jordan's elections explained in 500 words. 10 November 2020. Al Jazeera. en.
5. Web site: 10 November 2020. Jordan votes amidst strict COVID-19 measures. 10 November 2020. Middle East Monitor. en-GB.
6. Web site: 10 November 2020. Jordan holds parliamentary elections amid virus surge. 10 November 2020. AP News.
7. Web site: بدء 4 أيام من حظر التجول الشامل. 10 November 2020. قناة المملكة. ar.
8. http://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/2965/ Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan: Election for Majlis al-Nuwaab (Jordanian House of Deputies) 2016
9. http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2163_B.htm Electoral System
10. Web site: 16 October 2020. "المستقلة": 294 قائمة و1703 مرشحين للانتخابات والأسماء تنشر الليلة. 10 November 2020. Alghad. ar.
11. Web site: Jordan faces virus-era polls in crisis mode . France24 . 8 November 2020.
12. Web site: إقبال ضعيف على التصويت.. إغلاق صناديق الاقتراع بالانتخابات البرلمانية في الأردن. 10 November 2020. Al Jazeera. ar.
13. Web site: "المستقلة للانتخاب": تمديد فترة التصويت مرتبط بكثافة الاقتراع. 10 November 2020. قناة المملكة. ar.
14. Web site: The pandemic compromised Jordan’s parliamentary elections. Washington Post . 30 April 2021.
15. Web site: Women, opposition lose seats in Jordan election. Al Jazeera. 30 April 2021.