Ammon News - Amman, (Petra) The Independent Elections Commission IEC said on Monday that balloting and vote counting instructions published in the official gazette yesterday ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections are meant to ensure voter privacy in line with the constitution.

IEC spokesman Hussein Bani Hani said in a statement that a local constituency's special ballot paper bears a candidate's name and photograph, and a voter only needs to write the name of the candidate he/she chose, while an illiterate voter has only to mark a candidate's photo, a process which meets international criteria.

The ballot paper for the general (national) constituency, he said, will include the lists and their numbers and codes, and that a voter would only mark the name of a list or its number or code.

Bani Hani said balloting will feature a series of clear procedures to ensure a safe electoral process and not allow any manipulation through scrutiny at the ballot box, adding that people with disabilities will be a priority to vote.

For more fairness, he added, an election committee will ensure that no mobile phones, cameras or recorders will be used by a voter inside the polling booth.