June 29th, 2010 by Jennifer

The University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies released a striking public opinion poll on Monday regarding electoral processes in Jordan. The poll evaluated public knowledge and opinion in three key areas: the new Elections Law, the most recent parliamentary elections in 2007, and the upcoming November 9 parliamentary elections. The third section also included questions on the impact of the tribes on elections.

Under the first category, the poll indicated that 66% of respondents reported that they were entirely unaware that the government had instituted a new Elections Law. Of those polled who had heard of the law, only 52% were informed of its details to any degree, and of those, only 17% characterized their knowledge as extensive. On the other hand, 16% indicated that they had no information whatsoever about the details of the law, while 23%  reported that they were unable to understand some of the law’s details. In a stunning statistic, 62% indicated that they accepted or agreed with the new law, even though only 33% reported any knowledge of the law’s existence in the first place.

Asked whether they believed this year’s elections will be free and fair, 65% of the respondents said yes, while 9% said no, and 13% responded that they did not know. A large majority, 72%, felt that punishments for vote-buying  would prevent its occurrence in the elections. On the other hand, a large segment of those polled, 25%, reported their intention to boycott the elections. This number is significant, given that elections are only 20 weeks away and that 57% of respondents reported that they did vote during the previous round of elections. Regarding tribalism, 31% of those polled who voted previously indicated that they cast their vote for a relative or based on tribal affiliations, versus 16% who reported that they voted for the candidate’s platform.

Some observers criticized the public confusion made apparent by the results of the poll, with one blogger commenting that the study points to “yet another massive government failure to communicate with the people, especially over complex legislation that desperately needs to be understood by an electorate if the goal is to actually get them to vote.” The author suggested that bringing in international monitors to observe the elections might lend more credibility to the Jordanian government, in that regard.

Posted in Elections, Jordan, Public Opinion, Reform |