ATLANTA (April 24, 2026) — In response to an invitation from the Palestinian Central Elections Commission, The Carter Center announced today that it will conduct a remote assessment of tomorrow’s municipal elections in the occupied Palestinian territories, specifically in the West Bank and the Deir al-Balah municipality in the Gaza Strip.
The elections are taking place under challenging circumstances, including unprecedented conditions in the Gaza Strip. However, they are an important opportunity for Palestinian voters to exercise their fundamental political and electoral rights, particularly in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah municipality, where elections have not been held in 20 years.
The assessment will focus on targeted aspects of the electoral process, including the Palestinian legal and electoral frameworks, administrative electoral processes in the West Bank and Deir al-Balah, citizens’ participatory rights, and the political-electoral environment surrounding the elections.
The Carter Center’s assessment seeks to examine the unique obstacles facing voters immediately prior to, during, and after the April 25 polls, as well as contribute to ongoing discussions in support of democratic governance and self-determination in Palestine.
Due to the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States, the Center is unable to deploy a full mission or formally observe the electoral process. Therefore, the assessment will be conducted remotely with support from Palestinian experts in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Carter Center has a long history of working in Palestine on a range of issues, including the observation of elections dating back to the first post-Oslo national elections in 1996. It deployed full election missions to observe the 2005 presidential and 2006 legislative council elections, as well as assessed the 2012 and 2021-22 municipal elections. Since 1982, The Carter Center has observed 128 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations. In addition, it has conducted 18 expert missions in 16 countries.
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Contact: Media@CarterCenter.org
The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 90 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.