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Ammon News - Jordanians on Tuesday cast their votes to elect their representatives in municipal and governorate councils in the second election the nations holds under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Polling stations opened at 07:00am local time for the election of heads and members of 100 municipal councils, members of 12 governorate councils, and two-thirds of the Greater Amman Municipality Council (28 members).

According to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), the number of eligible voters stood at about 4.599 million, including 2.163 million men and 2.436 million women.

A total 4,646 male and female candidates are competing for the presidency of 100 municipalities, and for 918 seats in municipal councils, 200 of which are reserved for women, and 289 seats in governorates councils, 59 of which are for women.

This is in addition to 28 seats in the Greater Amman Municipality Council, 6 of which are for women. Fourteen members of the Greater Amman Municipality Council are appointed by the Cabinet representing government departments, chambers of industry and commerce, and experts.

The number of ballot boxes is 6,937, including 3,345 for males and 3,592 for females, in 1,850 polling stations, including 770 for males, 806 for females, and 274 mixed polling stations.

According to the electoral laws, there are 409 electoral districts for municipal councils, 158 districts for governorate councils, and 22 districts in the Greater Amman Municipality.

This is the second election that the IEC has held under the Defense Law which was invoked in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Voters must adhere to infection prevention protocols, such as distancing and use of masks, while non-recipients of the Corona vaccine are not allowed to vote.

The elections are being monitored by 5,048 observers representing 18 local and 10 foreign parties. Also, 55,000 security officers were deployed to ensure a smooth vote, the preliminary results of which will be announced after 07:00pm, while the final results are expected to be announced on Wednesday.