Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree amending Decree-Law No. (1) of 2007 concerning general elections and its amendments. This amendment included the cancellation of Decree-Law No. (10) of 2026, which had stipulated increasing the number of members of the Legislative Council to 200, thus restoring the number of members to 132.
According to the new decree, issued on August 9, 2026, several amendments previously introduced to the election law were retained. These include raising the minimum threshold for women's representation on electoral lists, lowering the age of candidacy, and maintaining the threshold percentage and the political requirements for candidacy known as the exclusionary condition.
The amendment concerning women's representation stipulates that each electoral list must include a minimum number of women, with one woman among the first three names on the list and one woman among every subsequent three names. The amendment also allows for women's representation to exceed this minimum.
The decision also maintained the lowering of the minimum age for candidacy to 23, following an amendment to the original law in this regard.
Regarding the threshold for representation, the decision retained the allocation of a number of seats to each electoral list that obtained 1% or more of the valid votes in the elections, proportional to the total number of votes it received.
The decision also maintained the candidacy requirements, which obligate both the candidate and the electoral list to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, its political and national program, and relevant international resolutions.
It should be noted that the new decree-law was published on the Central Elections Commission's website.
The Central Elections Commission, through its spokesperson Farid Ta'amallah, stated that the decree-law included several technical amendments at its request. The most prominent of these amendments clarified the requirement for candidacy for the presidency of the State of Palestine, stipulating that the party representative must sign the candidacy application only for party-affiliated candidates, not independent candidates. The decree-law also established procedures for the Gaza Strip similar to those adopted in Jerusalem and introduced a three-day period for correcting candidacy applications before a final decision is made.
The spokesperson for the Elections Committee told The amended law granted the Elections Committee flexibility to deal with voting in Gaza, as is the case for residents of Jerusalem.
Ta’amallah added “The amendments included clarifying the procedures related to the preliminary and final results and appealing them, prohibiting simultaneous candidacy for the presidency and membership in the Legislative Council, granting the Elections Committee the authority to set controls for the voting of illiterate and disabled voters, addressing the mechanism for auditing and announcing the results between the central headquarters and the electoral district offices, in addition to adopting the same voter registry in the event of holding successive elections, provided that the final registry does not exceed three months old.”
The Central Elections Commission confirmed in a press statement that it is proceeding with the electoral process according to the legally mandated timelines. It noted that the field registration phase for voters will begin next Saturday, August 15, and will continue for five days, in parallel with the ongoing online registration via the Commission's website. This is in preparation for the legislative elections scheduled for November 28, 2026.
The Commission also stated that it received a presidential decree on Tuesday allocating at least seven seats for Christian citizens in the upcoming Legislative Council. This follows the recent amendment to the General Elections Law, which restored the number of Legislative Council members to 132, and is also in preparation for the legislative elections scheduled for November 28.
Ta'amallah stated that the most important amendment is restoring the number of Legislative Council members to 132, as it was originally. He added that the amendment also includes their demands for technical modifications to the law, such as granting them flexibility in handling voting in the Gaza Strip by relying on the civil registry, which provides them with some flexibility, similar to the situation for residents of occupied Jerusalem.
He stressed that the amendment gave the election committee some flexibility in the matter of reviewing nomination applications within three days of the nomination process in order to correct errors before the appeals process, which reduces the number of rejected nomination applications.
“We will guarantee the Jerusalem ID holders and Gazans the right to run for office and vote, and the amended law gave the committee the necessary flexibility to ensure this.”
Regarding Jerusalem and addressing the challenges hindering the elections, he said that the situation would continue as before, but it was too early to discuss the detailed procedures.
He emphasized that what matters now is "reassuring all Jerusalem ID holders and Gazans that the committee will guarantee their right to run for office and vote. The amended law grants the committee this right and the flexibility to ensure the process."
Based on the amendment, every Jerusalemite and Gazan citizen will be able to cast their vote at the nearest polling station without being bound by the voter registry. Ta'amallah added, "Our role is to enable Gazans and Jerusalemites to do so and ensure that double voting is prevented (flexibility does not mean repeating the vote, something we experienced in Deir al-Balah two months ago during the local elections)."
“The amendments include correcting nomination applications within three days before a decision is made on them, and prohibiting simultaneous candidacy for the presidency and the Legislative Council.”
In the last elections, there were postal polling stations, but there were also other polling centers.
Ta'amallah stated that voting in Jerusalem is "a political issue, not a technical one, and we have solutions for this issue and will find solutions to enable them to vote and exercise their right."
In a parallel and unexpected development, Hamas called on Palestinian voters to register in the electoral roll in order to participate in the legislative elections.
The movement issued a statement saying: “Out of national responsibility, in fulfillment of our people’s sacrifices, and keen to preserve their right to choose their representatives and renew their national institutions through their free will, the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas – calls upon our people to expedite their registration and update their information in the electoral register, thus guaranteeing their right to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections.”
The movement stated in a press release that registering in the electoral register is the fundamental step towards exercising the right to choose and participate in national decision-making, and electing our people’s representatives to their official institutions, foremost among them the Legislative Council and the Palestinian National Council, thereby strengthening popular participation and enshrining the will of our people as the source of legitimacy for their national institutions.
Hamas: We call on our people to expedite their registration and update their information in the electoral register, in order to guarantee their right to participate in the upcoming Palestinian elections.
The statement concluded: “The stage our cause is going through requires expanding national participation, strengthening the unity of our people, and building effective Palestinian institutions that derive their legitimacy from their free will, express their aspirations, and preserve their national rights and interests, far from any guardianship or interference in their national decision.”
The Fatah Central Committee held a meeting chaired by the movement's deputy chairman, Hussein al-Sheikh, during which it discussed a range of national, political, and organizational issues, foremost among them preparations for the upcoming general elections, as well as the latest political developments and the situation on the ground in the Palestinian territories.
The Central Committee affirmed that the general elections constitute a crucial national and democratic imperative, and discussed the necessary plans and programs to ensure their success, as well as ways to mobilize organizational and popular energies and efforts to achieve this goal. This, it emphasized, would strengthen the democratic process, solidify national partnership, and revitalize the Palestinian political system and its institutions.
The Central Committee called upon the movement's various organizational frameworks and bodies to raise their level of preparedness, mobilize national and popular energies, cadres, and activities, and work with a spirit of national and organizational responsibility to ensure the success of the electoral process, considering it a fundamental step in strengthening national institutions and consolidating the popular will.
