The civic registration drive for PNC elections is a collective effort by Palestinian Jaliyas, organizations, clubs and communities around the world. This registration drive to create a primary register for PNC elections will begin in September 2012 and finish in December 2012. Refugee camps and communities in various locations across the world will be organizing registration drives at different times over that period. Registration times and locations in each area will be advertised at least four weeks before registration, and you will be able to register at the announced center near you.

Because the PNC is the highest legislative body representing all Palestinians, all Palestinians are entitled to vote in its elections (except for those already registered to vote through the PLC). A Palestinian is entitled to register as a voter for PNC elections in the civic registration drive, if:

• S/he is not already registered in the voter register of the PNA in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territories; and,
• S/he is of voting age at the time of the elections. In line with relevant PLO and PNA laws, a person shall be considered Palestinian, if: 1. S/he was born within the borders of Palestine as defined during the British Mandate era, or was entitled to acquire the Palestinian nationality under the applicable laws at that time; 2. S/he was born in the 1967 occupied Palestinian territory and is not already registered; 3. One of his/her ancestors falls under the application of paragraph (a) above, irrespective of where s/he was born; 4. S/he is a spouse of a Palestinian.

The mechanism for registration has a protective system in place to verify the identity of Palestinians registering and confirm their eligibility to vote, while keeping that information both secure and private.

The call for direct elections to the PNC is based on years of campaigning and organizing amongst Palestinians across the world, seeking a representative national institution that reflects the demands and positions of its people. It is based on three components: (1) a popular demand around which Palestinian communities in the homeland and shatat have mobilized, (2) the nationally expressed consensus and (3) the official policy of the PLO, and the National Reconciliation Committee comprised of all the parties.

The PNC is the parliament of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO). It is the supreme legislative body representing the Palestinian people both inside and outside of Palestine. Its role is to represent all Palestinians in their current locations: the Palestinians of the shatat, as well as Palestinians within historic Palestine.