1 Million and 30 Thousand Citizens Will Vote Tomorrow to Elect Their Representatives in 183 Local Authorities

SadaNews - Tomorrow morning, Saturday, April 25, 2026, approximately 1 million and 30 thousand citizens, including 70,449 voters in Deir al-Balah, will head to polling stations to elect their representatives in 183 local authorities out of a total of 420.

Voter Distribution

According to the Central Election Commission, voters (1,029,550 male and female voters) are distributed by gender, with 494,733 male voters in the West Bank, constituting (51.6%), and 464,368 female voters, constituting (48.4%). The percentage of voters with disabilities in the West Bank reached 31,570 male and female voters (3.3%), including 14,768 females and 16,802 males.

Municipal and Village Councils and Competition Ratios

The elections will take place in 90 municipal councils, including Deir al-Balah, where 321 electoral lists with 3,773 candidates will compete, including 2,573 males and 1,200 females. Party representations constitute 12%, while independents represent 88%. Elections will also be held in 93 village councils, with 1,358 candidates competing, including 1,049 males and 309 females, and there are 8 lists headed by women.

According to the data from the Election Commission, the number of local authorities that will have their councils formed by acclamation reached 42 municipal councils and 155 village councils.

Polling Centers and Monitoring Arrangements

The Election Commission has prepared 491 polling centers that will open on Saturday morning, including 12 centers in Deir al-Balah, comprising 1,922 polling stations, of which 100 are in Deir al-Balah.

The central election commission has approved 6,463 electoral list agents and candidates, 145 guests and diplomats, and 2,539 observers accredited from 69 accredited monitoring bodies, including 336 observers from 12 institutions in Deir al-Balah. Additionally, 806 journalists from 120 media outlets have been accredited, including 14 international outlets, of which 131 accredited journalists are in Deir al-Balah.

Election Day Management Teams

On election day, a team of 10,677 employees, including 651 in Deir al-Balah, will work under the Central Election Commission. They will be responsible for managing the voting process, facilitating citizen participation, and implementing procedures according to established protocols.

It is worth noting that the election campaigning, which started on Friday, April 10, 2026, for a duration of 14 days, ended last Thursday evening, marking the end of the last phase before election day.

Voting Systems: Municipal and Village Councils

The 2026 local authority elections will be conducted under the new elections law, which was issued on November 19, 2025, defining two electoral systems: the proportional representation system (open list) for municipal councils, and the majority system (individual candidacy) for village councils.

According to the law, candidacy in municipal councils is through open lists, where the electoral list name and the names of all its candidates are included on the ballot paper. The number of candidates in the list must equal the number of seats allocated to the municipal council. Voters choose one list and five (5) candidates or less from the same list they voted for, regardless of the number of municipal council seats.

Seat Allocation Mechanism:

Seats are allocated to lists that receive 5% (threshold) or more of the valid votes of the voters, distributed according to the "Sainte-Laguë" method, and seats are distributed to the candidates in the list according to the number of votes each candidate received, taking into account the representation of women and the Islamic-Christian quota.

In village councils, candidacy is individual (majority system), and the names of candidates appear on the ballot paper arranged by the order of nomination. Voters select five (5) candidates or less, and the seats are distributed among candidates according to the number of votes in descending order, while considering the representation of women and the Islamic-Christian quota.

The Cabinet had called for local authority elections in all the country's governorates, followed by a decision to postpone the elections in the southern governorates (Gaza Strip), except for the municipality of Deir al-Balah. Later, it was decided to postpone the elections in the Beit Ammer Authority, bringing the total number of authorities included in the elections to 420 local authorities.