Jordan- Majority prefers one-person, one-vote system 

(MENAFN - Jordan Times) A 60 per cent majority of respondents to an April poll said they prefer the one-man, one-vote to any other electoral system.

Meanwhile, the remaining 40 per cent of the almost 1,200 respondents were split among two votes, three votes and votes equal to the seats designated for the constituency, by 15 per cent, 13 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.

The poll, conducted by the University of Jordan's Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), raised the same issue in an August, 2011 survey, in which supporters of the one-vote system constituted 50 per cent.

The CSS chief, Moussa Shteiwi, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the poll was conducted before the government announced the draft elections law, which scrapped the one-person, one-vote system and replaced it with a mixed electoral system featuring a majority vote in the governorates and a closed proportional list designated for political party lists that will compete for 15 seats at the national level if Parliament endorses the bill.

Regarding the type of vote, 52 per cent of the sample, which was selected from Jordanians above 18 in 200 locations all over the Kingdom, said they want a majority vote for one person at the constituency level, while 37 per cent preferred the proportional list-system at the constituency level. The rest were either indifferent, indecisive or they refused to respond.

The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent.

The pollster said that apart from the 60 per cent support of the one-person, one-vote formula, it is evident that the Jordanian community is still divided over what electoral vote Jordan should adopt.

"It also reflects people's fear from the unknown," he said, explaining that it is part of the general culture that "what you are already aware of, despite its shortcomings, is better than what you don't know anything about".