Vote Buying in Jordanian Electoral Law: A Critical Legal Analysis of the 2022 Legislation
Main Article Content
Abstract
This article aims to study the crime of vote-buying in Jordanian Election Law No. 4 of 2022 by analyzing the legal texts regulating it, clarifying its elements, and assessing their adequacy in combating it. This crime is considered one of the most dangerous manifestations of political corruption due to its direct impact on corrupting the popular will and influencing the legitimacy of the electoral process. The article's problem lies in the ability of current legal texts to effectively confront the phenomenon of vote-buying, given the evolution of methods of committing the crime and the limits of judicial interpretation. The research adopted a descriptive and analytical approach, employing a comparison with previous legal texts and analyzing relevant Jordanian Court of Cassation decisions. The article concluded that the current law includes significant developments, particularly in not requiring the status of a candidate for the crime to be committed and in including the penalty of disqualification from candidacy. However, it still suffers from deficiencies in some aspects, such as the failure to criminalize attempts and the lack of awareness of electronic images of the crime. The research recommends amending the text to include attempts, increasing penalties in organized cases, expanding liability to include electoral lists, and updating evidence tools to enhance the effectiveness of the enforcement of the legal text and ensure the integrity of elections.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This open-access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
You are free to: Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
No additional restrictions You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
How to Cite
Share
References
Abu Al-Maati, M. (2013). Criminal protection of democracy [PhD disseration]. Cairo University.
Abu issa, H., & Al Shibli, M. (2022). The Avenge as a Motive of Homicide Crimes in Jordan for the Period (2017-2021). Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 14(1).
Abu Issa, H., & Khater, M. (2023). Distance Indecent Assault Crime in Jordanian Law Perspective. Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 15(1), 125–138.
Ahmad, H. (2002). Criminal protection of the principles governing political elections in their various stages. Dar Al Nahda Al Arabiya.
Ahmad, S. (2017). Electoral crimes and their impact on the legitimacy of legislative elections [PhD disseration]. Beni-Suef University.
Al-Adaileh, S. & Alhrerat, K. (2020). The crime of electoral bribery in Jordanian legislation. Jordanian Journal of Law and Political Science, 12(1).
Al-Amari, A. (2009). Electoral crimes [PhD disseration]. Ain Shams University.
Al-Asadi, D. (2011). Election crimes. Zain Legal Publications.
Alfawaeer, A. M., Alhasan, T. K., & Alfaoury, A. M. (2023). Ostensible agency in Jordanian civil law: An in depth scrutiny of juridical frameworks and the imperative for legislative reformulation. Relacoes Internacionais no Mundo Atual, 4(42), 810–831. https://doi.org/10.21902/Revrima.v4i42.6566
Alkhatib, R., & Haider, A. S. (2024). Subtitling Legal Expressions in English Series into Arabic by Netflix, Machine, and Artificial Intelligence. Pakistan Journal of Criminology, 14(4), 513-528. doi:https://doi.org/10.62271/pjc.16.4.513.528
Alhasan, T. K., & Awaisheh, S. M. (2024). The right of public employee to defend disciplinary penalty in Jordan. International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 10(2), 190–203. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJPLAP.2024.137783
Al-Hayat Center – Rasid (2024). (Rasid) report on monitoring the parliamentary elections 2024. Amman.
Al-Obaidi, A. (2018). Criminal protection of parliamentary elections. Dar Wael.
Al Zubi, J. K., Maaqqbeh, M., Awaisheh, S. M., Mofleh, Y. A., Awaisheh, S. M., & Alhasan, T. K. (2024). Progress and challenges in the legal framework of women’s rights in Jordan. International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences, 19(1), 519–531. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19128
Amman Criminal Court of First Instance, Decision No. 38 of 2021.
Ascencio, S. J., & Chang, H. I. (2024). Does vote buying undermine confidence in ballot secrecy? Theory and experimental evidence. Political Science Research and Methods. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2024.54
Bahamonde, H., & Canales, A. (2022). Electoral risk and vote buying: introducing prospect theory to the experimental study of clientelism. Electoral Studies, 80, 102497.
Birch, S. (2011). Electoral malpractice. Oxford University Press.
Brahimi. (2008). Legal system for electoral crimes. Dar Al-Fikr Al-Jamie.
Breeding, M. (2007). Vote-buying: Is it a threat to democratic policy representation?. PSOnline, American Political Science Association. Retrieved from www.apsanet.org
Cruz, C. (2018). Social Networks and the Targeting of Vote Buying. Comparative Political Studies, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018784062
Garnett, H. A., & Zavadskaya, M. (2019). Electoral integrity and political regimes: Actors, Strategies and Consequences. Routledge.
Haider, A. S., Al-Salman, S., & Al-Abbas, L. S. (2022). Courtroom strong remarks: A case study of the impact statements from survivors and victims’ families of the Christchurch Mosque Attacks. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 35(2), 753-770.
Haider, A. S., & AlKhatib, R. (2024). Subtitling English Legal Acronyms into Arabic: Human vs Machine. Kutafin Law Review, 11(4), 810-842. doi:https://doi.org/10.17803/2713-0533.2024.4.30.810-842
Hasen, R. L. (2000). Vote Buying. California Law Review, 88(5), 1323–1371. https://doi.org/10.2307/3481262
Hatz, S., Fjelde, H., & Randahl, D. (2024). Could vote buying be socially desirable? Exploratory analyses of a ‘failed’ list experiment. Quality & Quantity, 58, 2337–2355. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-023-01740-6
Independent Election Commission (2020). Detailed report on the electoral process for the 2020 parliamentary elections for the 19th Council. Amman.
Independent Election Commission (2024). Detailed report on the electoral process for the 2024 parliamentary elections. Amman.
Irbid Criminal Court of First Instance, Decision No. 543 of 2020.
Jordanian Constitution 1952.
Jordanian Court of Cassation, Ruling No. 2141 of 2021.
Jordanian Court of Cassation, Ruling No. 2251 of 2021.
Jordanian House of Representatives Election Law No. 4 of 2022.
Jordanian Penal Code No. 16 of 1960.
Keefer, P., & Vlaicu, R. (2017). Vote Buying and Campaign Promises. Journal of Comparative Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2017.07.001
Khalifa, A. (2018). Electoral crimes. Al-Halabi Legal Publications.
Khater, M. N., Issa, H. A., Alsheyab, M. S., & Alwerikat, N. (2023). The crime of goods fraud in the Jordanian penal code. Multidisciplinary Reviews, 7(2). https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024035
Muhtadi, B. (2019). Vote buying in Indonesia: The Mechanics of Electoral Bribery. Springer.
National Center for Human Rights (2020). Report on the parliamentary elections for the 19th House of Representatives. Amman.
National Center for Human Rights (2024). Parliamentary Election Monitoring Report for the Twentieth House of Representatives. Amman.
Nichter, S. (2014). Conceptualizing Vote Buying. Electoral Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2014.02.008
Norris, P., & Nai, A. (Eds.). (2017). Election watchdogs: transparency, accountability and integrity. Oxford University Press.
Qamar. (2005). Criminal protection of political rights [PhD disseration]. Cairo University.
Salt Criminal Court, Decision No. 70 of 2013.
Schaffer, F. C. (Ed.). (2007). Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying. Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Umbers, L. M. (2018). What’s wrong with vote buying. Philosophical Studies, 176(3), 551–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-018-1194-4
Weld-Ali, E. W., Obeidat, M. M., & Haider, A. S. (2023). Religious and Cultural Expressions in Legal Discourse: Evidence from Interpreting Canadian Courts Hearings from Arabic into English. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law-Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique, 36(6), 2283–2301. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11196-023-10016-z