RAMALLAH, Saturday, March 26, 2022 – President Mahmoud Abbas today cast his ballot in the second phase of local elections in the city of al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah. He was accompanied by Ramallah Governor Laila Ghannam, Chairman of the Central Elections Commission (CEC) Hanna Nasser, PLO Executive Committee member Hussein al-Sheikh, and General Supervisor of Official Media Ahmad Assaf.

“We are very happy to see our people exercising democracy,” said President Abbas. He expressed his hope that elections would be held across all Palestinian territories—not only in the West Bank—and that presidential and legislative elections would be permitted in all parts of Palestine.

According to the CEC, voter turnout reached 39% by 4:00 p.m., with 278,324 voters out of 715,413 eligible citizens casting their ballots. Polling centers opened at 7:00 a.m. and were scheduled to close at 7:00 p.m. local time.

Local elections took place in 50 West Bank municipalities, including major cities and towns. In 23 other localities where only one electoral list was submitted, those lists won by acclamation. In 28 localities, no lists were nominated, and in one locality the number of nominees was fewer than the available council seats—meaning the councils in these areas will be appointed by the government.

The CEC reported that 178 electoral lists were independent, while 81 represented political parties or coalitions. A total of 2,537 candidates ran in this phase of the elections, including 678 women—accounting for 26.7% of all candidates. Age distribution among candidates was as follows: 59% under the age of 45, 23% between 46 and 55, and 18% over 55.

The first phase of local elections was held on December 11, 2021, in 154 small and medium-sized localities in the West Bank only, as Hamas—the de facto authority in the Gaza Strip—refused to allow elections there. The second phase was similarly conducted only in the West Bank due to Hamas’ ongoing rejection of holding elections in Gaza.