Election campaign banners showing candidates for the upcoming municipal elections hang on a building in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
According to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, around 1.03 million eligible voters will cast ballots to elect 183 representatives in local bodies out of a total of 420. Of these, approximately 70,449 voters are registered in Deir Al-Balah, the only locality in Gaza participating in the elections.
The elections come amid Palestinian resistance to the ongoing Israeli attempts to annex parts of the West Bank and refusal to withdraw from Gaza in violation of the terms of the ceasefire with Hamas, which was brokered by the US in October 2025 to end Tel Aviv's genocidal war in the strip.
The vote comes a day after the official campaigning period, which began on 10 April and lasted 14 days, concluded on Thursday evening.
Election data shows a near-even gender split among voters in the West Bank, with men making up 51.6 percent and women 48.4 percent of registered voters. Around 3.3 percent of voters are persons with disabilities.
Authorities have prepared 491 polling centres, including 12 in Deir Al-Balah, comprising a total of 1,922 polling stations. More than 10,600 staff will oversee the voting process, supported by thousands of observers, candidate agents, and accredited journalists.
The elections will take place in 90 municipal councils and 93 village councils. In municipal races, 321 electoral lists comprising 3,773 candidates are competing, with women accounting for roughly one-third of candidates. Only eight lists are headed by women.
Independent candidates dominate the municipal contests, representing 88 percent of lists, while party-affiliated lists account for 12 percent.
In village councils, 1,358 candidates are running under an individual majority system.
However, a large number of councils will be formed uncontested, with 42 municipal and 155 village councils decided by acclamation.
The vote is being held under a new elections law, issued in November 2025, which introduced two systems: proportional representation with open lists for municipal councils and a majority-based individual system for village councils.
Municipal seats are allocated to lists that surpass a 5 percent threshold, using the Sainte-Laguë method.
Developed by Andre Sainte-Laguë of France, the method, which is generally perceived as benefiting medium-sized parties at the expense of large and small ones, relies entirely on odd numbers whereby parties' total votes are divided by consecutive odd numbers (1,3,5,7,...etc), with seats assigned to those parties that obtain the highest numbers resulting from the division.
Village council seats are, by contrast, awarded to individual candidates based on vote totals.
Despite their differences, the two systems, however, include provisions for women’s representation and religious quotas.
Deir Al-Balah: A symbolic vote in Gaza
Including Deir Al-Balah marks a notable development, as the town is set to hold Gaza’s first municipal vote in more than two decades.
The vote in Deir Al-Balah comes amid ongoing devastation following more than 30 months of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and its repeated violations of a 2025 ceasefire.
Although less damaged than other northern areas in the strip, the town is struggling under the weight of displaced populations and collapsed infrastructure.
Candidates from four lists are contesting 15 council seats, with the winning councillors set to choose the mayor.
Residents are casting their vote less as a political contest than as a pivotal step toward restoring basic services and local governance.
“This is a step toward restoring civic life,” a regional election official said earlier this week, describing the poll as part of a broader local electoral cycle, albeit one largely confined to the West Bank.
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