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a personal matter therefore the negligent and delinquent are not rewarded, and the CEC is not a litigation body deciding who wins the locality seats; it is an independent institution that is responsible for safeguarding free democratic integrity elections process, thus, it implements the explicit law and does not have the authority to decide who has the right to nominate and who is not unless by law. Thereby, the CEC decision to reject the appealers’ request regarding its decision to decline the list nomination is based on law texts and only the law, considering all that is stated above, I petition the court to reject this appeal in substance and force the appealing parties to pay all the expenses and attorney fees. The Court: Following discussion, deliberations and reviewal of the appeal file and what were submitted of facts, closing arguments and referring to the reasons of appealing stated above and the results: The court finds it is evident that the CEC by its decision issued on 15/4/2017 of rejecting the “City for All” list nomination as one of the competing electoral lists in Beitunia local elections and membership of Beitunia council via its legal representative Arafat Mahmoud Amin Khalaf because the appealing candidate Hassan Issa Hassan Muheisen is not registered in the final Voters’ list of Beitunia where he is running in a violation of paragraph b of article 18 of the local elections law no. 10 of 2005. And since nomination for localities membership is regulated by defined legal provisions, among which is the candidate’s name to be enlisted in the final voters’ list of that locality that is prepared by the CEC for each electoral district where elections will take place in pursuant to article 18 of the local elections law no. 10 of 2005. Hence, non-existence of the candidate’s name in the voters list of Beitunia locality causes the candidate’s loss of his/her eligibility to run in this locality. The CEC, in pursuant with Article 11 paragraph 1 of the same law, published the voters’ list in a very accessible place at the electoral district office, and everyone has the right to object on these records to edit or correct any information or enlist or reject a name and since the final voters list is published 60 days before the Elections Day and according to the respondents’ attorney, exhibition was for five successive days at the localities centers and the legal period expired for filing complaints or challenge, consequently the voters’ list has become final record. Article 11

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City for All List, et. al v. Palestinian Central Election Commission, et. al

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the error in registration on the voter list of one candidate from an independent candidate list should result in rejecting the application of all the candidates on the list, and thus the entire list, from running for election.

Alleged Acts: The plaintiffs allege that the Palestinian Central Elections Committee (CEC) improperly rejected the nomination of the City for All List (“the List”) for the Beituna elections because one of the List’s members, Hasan Issa Hassan Muheisen, was not properly registered on the Beituna’s voters’ list, but rather on the voters’ list in Ramallah. As a result of the rejection, the plaintiffs allege that all the candidates on the City for All List were deprived of their right to run for election.

Procedural history: The CEC rejected the candidates on the City for All List from running in the Beitunia, Ramallah, and Al-Bireh municipal elections due to the ineligibility of one candidate on the list. The City for All List, in conjunction with 11 members of the List as individual candidates on the list, appealed the CEC’s decision to the Electoral Court.

Summary: The plaintiffs are the City for All List and 11 individual applicant-candidates of the List who allege that the CEC improperly barred the List and its members from running in municipal elections because one of the List’s candidates, Hasan Issa Hassan Muheisen, was not registered on the voter roll in Beitunia municipality. Instead, Hassan Muheisen was registered on the voter roll in Ramallah municipality. The CEC refused to register the City for All List, the candidate Muheisen, and all other the member-candidates running on the City for All List because of Muheisen’s lack of registration on the voter roll in the Beitunia municipality, where they wished to compete in the election. The plaintiffs provide a series of reasons for contesting the CEC’s rejection. First, the rejection is generally invalid because the CEC did not address all the issues raised by the plaintiffs in their appeal to the CEC on 9/7/2017. They argued that the List was submitted properly and met all requirements under election law and that, it is the responsibility of the CEC, not the party or the candidates, to “verify and confirm that the nomination applications are complete and meet all the legal requirements.” The plaintiffs also stated that the CEC assumed, without mentioning proof, that the plaintiffs submitted the List in bad faith and for the purpose of getting around the laws regulating the election process. Additionally, candidate Hassan Muheisen is a resident of Beitunia and “was committed to paying all his due fees and taxes” imposed for misregistering on the Ramallah voter roll. They argue that an entire list can only be rejected in instances where withdrawing a candidate(s) causes the total number of candidates on the list to fall below “the majority of the number of seats allocated to the electoral district” in accordance with article 14, paragraph 5 of Local Election Law No. 10 of 2005. Therefore, Hassan Muheisen being kept on or removed from the List will not affect the legal order of the other candidates or the validity of the List at large. And, rejecting the entire List instead of only removing Hassan Muheisen violates Articles 14, 16, 17, 18, and 20 of the Local Elections Law No. 10 of 2005. They added that the rejection of the List violates the rights of the List candidates to participate in political life “in accordance with the principles of equal opportunities.” Finally, the CEC’s rejection does not safeguard the elections process, does not allow for a strong and competent local council and does not restore citizens’ trust in the elections process. In its decision on appeal, the Electoral Court cited Article 14(5) of the Local Elections Law No. 10 of 2005 mandating that the number of candidates on an electoral list could not be less than the majority of seats for the contested locality. Even though candidate Hassan Muheisen had not correctly registered on the voter roll, the Court held that the number of remaining registered candidates on the List did not fall below the required threshold. Therefore, the Court held that the City for All List was still valid and its members are eligible to run in the Beitunia municipal elections. The Court concluded that the CEC’s interpretation of Local Elections Law No. 10 of 2005 was incorrect and its rejection of the List partially violated the law. Consequently, the Electoral Court reversed the CEC ruling for the party and all the party’s members, except for the candidate who did not register correctly.

Conclusion: The CEC decision is reversed for all appellants, except for Hasan Issa Hassan Muheisen, and the registration for the City for All List is accepted to compete in the municipal elections.

Legal Issue(s)

Candidate Eligibility
Candidate Registration

Applicable Law(s): Article 14, Paragraph 5 of the Local Elections Law No. 10 of 2005

Region: Middle East and North Africa

Country: Palestine

Language of Decision

Arabic

Court: Electoral Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Apr 23, 2017

Geolocation

Latitude: 31.467569093559153

Longitude: 34.42376471221693

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

ELECTORAL COURT Case 4-2017.pdf
English
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Supporting files

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ELECTORAL COURT Case 4-2017 Dissenting Opinion .pdf70.87 kB

Election Judgments - IFES

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City for All List, et. al v. Palestinian Central Election Commission, et. al

Primary Documents

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