Election commission clarifies voting age

AMMAN – The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday refuted a statement issued a day earlier by the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI), which suggested confusion over the voting age could deprive 175,000 citizens of the right to vote, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The SIGI statement said that the wording of the Elections Law was unclear over the voting age. The IEC said SIGI should have paid more attention to the Law Interpretation Bureau’s (LIB) June decision, which clarified that citizens who complete 17 years 90 days before the election day or earlier would be added to the voter list.

Also on Monday, IEC President Khaled Kalaldeh said the commission is targeting youths in awareness-raising campaigns as they are the “change makers”. He also called on young people to avoid apathy and to participate in the political process.