Jordan Parliament Corrects Ballot Tally After 139 Votes Shown for 138 MPs
Election committee chair says an extra mark on the vote display inflated the invalid-ballot count; the speaker's 70-vote victory remains unchanged.
Jordan's parliament said a one-vote discrepancy displayed during the election of its new speaker was a tally-board error rather than an additional ballot. The election committee's explanation followed objections from a losing candidate and scrutiny of the displayed totals.
The 2 November election of the House of Representatives speaker initially showed 139 votes although 138 MPs attended. The display listed 70 votes for Ibrahim Tarawneh, 38 for Mujhem Sqour and 23 for Suleiman Zaben, with eight invalid ballots. That tally added to 139.
On 3 November, election committee chair Mohammad Hdeib told parliament that the number of ballot papers had been checked against participating MPs before the count and matched at 138. The error, he said, was an extra tally mark in the invalid-ballot column: seven papers were invalid, not eight. The three candidates' recorded vote totals did not change. Their combined 131 votes plus seven invalid ballots equal 138.
Sqour challenged the discrepancy and called for another round. Hdeib said the error did not affect the result, citing Article 35 of the chamber's internal rules, under which blank and invalid ballots are excluded when calculating the required majority. The corrected official result gives Tarawneh 70 votes, enough for election under either interpretation discussed in local coverage.
Jordan's state news agency Petra reported on 2 November that Tarawneh had received 70 votes, Sqour 38, Zaben 23, and that seven ballots were invalid with 138 MPs present. Local Jordanian outlets Ammon News and Amman Voice separately reported the discrepancy and Hdeib's parliamentary explanation on 3 November.
The committee's account is an official explanation of the display, not an independent examination of individual ballot papers. No reviewed source established that a physical extra ballot entered the box, that the candidate totals were changed, or that a court invalidated the result. A full parliamentary vote record or video could provide a further independent check.
The dispute concerned an internal parliamentary leadership election, not a national public election.
AI assistance was used in preparing this report. Fast News remains responsible for its editorial verification and publication.
Spotted an error? Request a correction · Our editorial principles · Contact the newsroom