Ok so election are over. Halas.
It was interesting for sure. Quick highlights, I went and watched my family vote, there were some "riots", voters turnout was quite low, and the gov't calls the whole thing a success.
So for starters, my family had a nice big lunch with supposedly good food. (Remember the koosa and aineb? stuffed grape leaves and stuffed zucchini? Also, the most disgusting thing I've ever had and the only thing I haven't been able to eat here, sheep feet. More on that later. )
So after lunch, they loaded in to the 2 cars to go vote. Mom, dad, all three sisters, and brother-in-law, and me. We drove all the way around the neighborhood to the local school. (Which is only a 10 minute walk I do almost every day...) Managed to park among the chaos of supporters handing out pamphlets. As if now that I'm walking in to vote is the time to advertise? Why weren't they doing this last week in front of the supermarket?
So Brother-in-law can't vote here, because they live in another city, but since they only got married over the summer, sister still has to vote in this district. So (after being told to turn off cell phones) we traipse up to vote. Each classrom has individual pooling stations. There's a long table with 3 men, filling out paperwork of some sort. I know it must have been in part to keep track of who already voted, but there was a lot more paperwork than just that it seemed. They had tried to roll out a new computer system that tracked everyone by their version of a "social security number". But it crashed. Surprise!
Then, they ended up going back to the old way of cutting the corner of your license to prove you already voted. So I watched my oldest sister (19) as she went in a little booth, similar to ours at home and wrote the name down. Then came out and put it in the big clear ballot box. And that was it.
It was pretty uneventful. And inside the school was empty. No lines to vote or anything. I mean, only one person per room wasn't an issue. There were police all over, but they were certainly unneeded here. My neighborhood is primarily chill, a lot of Ex-pats, Christians, and then more moderate Muslims. So no real chance for violence here.
Elsewhere in Amman, there was some violence as the poll results started coming out. It was based on tribal violence, which is still a big issue in Jordan. (Its why UJ campus has gates around it, too many fights involving non students, so only students can get in now.)
Its my understanding, that tribes are recognizable by family name. And even if you've never met someone in the fight, if its your tribe, young men will just jump in. They hear about it and come running, dropping what ever was going on, not asking why there is a fight, just supporting the tribe. These are possibly the strongest ties a person has in this region, esp as gov'ts fail and you have to rely elsewhere. Family has to support you.
So the "riots" which the largest consisted of maybe 30 guys (So don't picture hundreds in the street!) throwing rocks, or maybe getting in fights with other tribes because one is celebrating a victory and the other, sad over a loss, feels made fun of because the first group is happy. There's a lot of emotion going on here. Another "riot" was 10 guys celebrating in the street. I mean, yeah they had pipes or chains, and damaged some cars or buildings, but nothings massive, at least here.
There were celebratory gunshots all over the city, til like 2 am, a police guard hut got burned down, and a few fights.
And I should say, never at any point did I feel in any danger. For one, I'm not a young Jordanian man in a tribe. I have no ties. But I wasn't out in places to be concerned really either. I spend the night studying in Starbucks with a few friends and took a taxi home. By the time I got home, the local school was deserted, and its was only an hour after polls closed. (Remember 7 to 7? and they're allowed to remain open 1 hour if there are still people who want to vote.)
But outside of Amman, there were a few larger incidents, a highway near Irbid got blocked and cars were actually overturned or severely damaged. People had to turn around and find other ways home. Police say this was the strongest violence. And Madaba also saw some serious violence.
There are some candidates who claim the gov't interfered with the polls. And maybe in the sense that certain candidates were told to run in easier districts. Also, waiting to hear voter turnout numbers form non-gov't sources. Like I said last time, voter turnout was supposed to be low. The gov't reported 53% this year, down from 58% last year, saying they were surprised but pleased with the numbers. I've also heard Amman turnout was like 30%. We'll see. The gov't seemed to say overall they felt the citizens were responding well, and showing they wanted to participate and make changes. It sounds like a lot of happy gov't nonsense. But ya know. Gov't say these things.
The majority of winners are first time officals. Some have served before and just had wild popularity and success. I know of at least one woman who made it in without the woman quota and off votes alone. The breakdown is mostly Muslims, but there are a scattering of Christians too. Surprising to me, even in the 2 cities with the largest population of Christians, only 1 of 4 officials were Christian.
It was interesting to watch people respond to the poll results. Fo instance, my family who had voted were turned in tot he radio and TV all night and in the morning, waiting to hear. Other people's families wanted nothing to do with the elections and considered it a joke and a waste of time. My friend Sarah's dad voted for the first time, only because his friend dragged him along. They had an interesting conversation where she congratulated him and he didn't see it as a big deal. He had been saying all along voting wasn't important, and people here only vote because they know someone, or their friends are doing it. Many people believe they shouldn't vote because it won't matter. Things will not change so why waste time? I've probably heard this most.
Which personally is frustrating, because I believe if you never make the move, no things won't change. At least try, because if you and everyone who believes as you do are voting for the same person, or similar beliefs, it still sends a message that change is wanted, and encourages it for next time. Its a really interesting phenomenon and cycle. Don't matter, don't vote, you'll never be heard. If you don't bother trying, you shouldn't have the right to complain.
Ok so this is a much longer post than I thought. Opps. I guess politics does that to me. Y'all should have know better. The elections were exciting. Different from home in so many ways. But absolutely fascinating to observe. And discuss. And it really sparks conversation about the importance of voting when you don't think your voice is heard or change is possible, or how tribalism effects candidate quality or selection, (just because he is my cousin, doesn't mean he isn't the best candidate...), or even the violence that we wouldn't see in the States. Celebratory gunshots? Please.
So it was a really cool experience to be here for. And observing was as cool as everyone said it would be, even though I was skeptical. (I mean, watching people vote? Yea!....) But it totally was. And continuing to follow what happens next, does parliament dissolve immediately or what? will be neato.
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