The regional director of the Election Commission in the Gaza Strip, Jamil al-Khalidi, speaks to the "Safa" agency about the latest preparations for the legislative elections:

▪ The nomination stage for the elections begins on September 26 and lasts for 12 days in the commission’s offices in the West Bank and its headquarters in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.

▪ The commission is in contact with the Ministry of Interior in Gaza to reach an alternative electoral register by adopting the civil registry, excluding sensitive data that violates citizens’ privacy.

▪ The commission will distribute the civil registry for the Gaza Strip to the competing electoral lists for review instead of publishing it and allowing objections to it.

▪ The lists have the right to object to the names of the martyrs, the deceased, and travelers included in the registry, and the commission will contact the Ministry of Interior to correct them.

▪ The election law prohibits those convicted in criminal cases from running and voting, and anyone has the right to object to their presence in the registry.

▪ In the event of a challenge against these people, the Election Commission first makes the decision, and if the challenge is not accepted, the challenger has the right to appeal the decision before the Election Cases Court, and its decision is final.

▪ The commission will use technology and electoral ink on election day to prevent double voting and regulate the electoral process.

▪ There will be two employees: the first makes sure that the name of the voter over 18 is present in the civil registry through phones equipped with all the registry data.

▪ When the employee confirms that the voter’s name is in the registry, he gives him a ballot paper with which he goes to the voting booth.

▪ When the vote is cast, the second employee deletes his name from the civil registry through his phone, and thus he cannot vote anywhere else.

▪ Preparations are proceeding well despite the obstacles, the most prominent of which are the closure of the crossings and the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

▪ There are promises to bring ballot boxes, papers, and electoral ink into the Gaza Strip, but there are no actual steps so far.

▪ If it becomes impossible to bring in the supplies, the commission will work to provide ballot boxes from the local market, print the papers inside the Strip, and find an alternative to the electoral ink.

▪ Relying on the civil registry will make the voting process easier for citizens, as they will not be restricted to one polling center and can go to any polling center.

▪ There will be more than 100 polling centers in the Gaza Strip distributed in areas that are accessible, especially displacement areas.

▪ The number of polling stations will exceed 400 stations distributed over more than 100 centers.

▪ The number of those eligible to vote in the Gaza Strip is expected to exceed 1,100,000 voters.