Jordanians will elect a new lower house of the Jordanian parliament, the Majlis al-Nuwaab or Council of Representatives, on November 9, 2010. These elections come a year earlier than originally scheduled, but almost a year after His Majesty King Abdullah II dissolved parliament in November 2009—two years before the end of its mandate.

When King Abdullah dissolved parliament, he requested the government to draft a new election law and conduct elections that would be a "model of impartiality, integrity and transparency." The government, which is appointed by the King, issued a new election law on 17 May 2010 as a temporary law. In the absence of parliament, this law is fully effective and the 2010 parliamentary elections will be conducted in terms of this law.

The new law saw minor improvements in electoral administration and in the electoral system. However, some changes were unpredicted and unprecedented and it will be difficult to predict what effect these changes will have.

Positive elements in the law include:

• Changing the mechanism for appointing judges on electoral committees from nomination by the Minister of Justice to nomination by the Head of the Judicial Council.
• Elevating the status of the judge to that of deputy of electoral committees. This signifies a (albeit limited) recognition of the need for independent oversight of electoral management.
• Increasing the number of seats in urban areas. Although limited, the addition of four seats in the urban areas signifies recognition of the need to address the unequal ration of voters per seat between urban and rural districts.
• Increasing the number of seats set aside for women candidates who did not win seats directly and amending the formula for allocating these seats to ensure most governorates will have a woman representative in parliament.
• Including a requirement that ballot papers are counted in the presence of candidate representatives.

The new electoral system includes the introduction of sub-districts within larger electoral districts. Candidates must register to compete in single-member sub-districts in the existing 45 electoral districts, but voters can still vote for any candidate in the larger district, irrespective of sub-district. Sub-districts are "virtual," meaning that it is neither determined by geography or identity. These new features of the electoral system are likely to have a significant impact on candidate and voter behavior. It might bring about complications for candidate registration procedures.

Reaction to the election law from political groups, potential candidates and commentators indicated disappointment. Although the positive steps were recognized, many commented that more reforms are required and felt that an opportunity was missed to introduce those reforms.

Official preparations for elections started in June. Given the disappointment with the law, it is noteworthy that the government is taking steps to indicate they are serious about conducting the elections with "impartiality, integrity and neutrality.” One of the first steps was to allow domestic observer groups to start observation of the voter registration process. The government also indicated that more extensive observation of polling, counting and the results processes would be allowed for the 2010 elections than was done in 2007. The government also initiated meetings with representatives of people with disabilities to improve access for Jordanians living with disabilities to the electoral process.

Legal provisions for candidate registration, polling, counting and results procedures were left untouched in the new law, but the law leaves significant room for improved processes through adjustments to administrative procedures, instructions and training manuals. IFES is currently working with Jordanian government officials to determine which procedural and administrative adjustments would be possible for these elections; and train election staff to implement these changes with the highest possible levels of transparency and credibility.