Law of Election to the House of Deputies

CHAPTER EIGHT Elections Publicity

Article 60	According to the provisions of this Law, Election publicity shall be free and every Candidate may resort thereto from the date of the beginning of the candidature period until the day immediately preceding the day designated for the Election, on which any kind of Elections Publicity is prohibited and subject to the penalties provided for in this Law. The organization and convening of Electoral meetings and the delivery of electoral speeches is prohibited in places of worship, institutions of learning and buildings occupied by Government ministries and departments and official public institutions or those under the supervision of the Government.
Article 61	Candidates may publish advertisements and publications containing their objectives, as well as statements related to their plans and courses of action, provided that they bear the Candidate’s explicit name. Such advertisements, publications and statements are exempt from fees. The official Government Emblem may not be used in election meetings, advertisements and publications and in all other types of writings, drawings and pictures used for the purposes of election publicity. Furthermore, the use of loudspeakers in transport vehicles is prohibited in election publicity.
Article 62	The publication or posting of any placard, sign or election tract, including pictures, drawings and writings on the walls and other places, is prohibited. Places for such placards, signs or tracts shall be designated by the municipal and rural councils in the cities, towns and villages. The local municipal authorities may at any time remove any violation of this ban at the expense of the relevant Candidate without any warning.
Article 63	Speeches, publications, advertisements, and other election publicity vehicles, issued or made by the candidate, may not include, directly or indirectly, any insinuation or slander of any candidate, or agitate sectarian, tribal or regional bias among the various groups of citizens.
Article 64	Employees of the Government, official public institutions and local authorities are prohibited from making election publicity for the benefit of any candidate.
Article 65	In their election publicity campaigns, Candidates are prohibited from presenting gifts, contributions or monetary or in-kind assistance, or any other benefits, or from promising to provide same to a natural or judicial person, be that directly or through others, with the purpose of influencing the voting; furthermore, anyone is prohibited from soliciting such gifts, contributions, or assistance, or the promise thereof from any Candidate.

CHAPTER NINE Election Crimes

Article 66	A court of First Instance shall punish with a prison term of not less than three months and not more than one year, or a penalty of not less than two hundred Dinars and not more than five hundred Dinars, or both penalties, anyone convicted with any of the following acts: Assuming the personality or name of another person with the intent of voting in the election. Exercising his right to vote more than once. Carrying a firearm or any type of weapon or an instrument perilous to public security and safety in any polling center on the election day. Entering by force the polling or canvassing center to influence or delay the election procedures or to come up with wrongdoing against any of the officials in charge of the election. Influencing the freedom of the election or hindering the election procedures in any way whatsoever. Tampering with any of the ballot boxes or Electoral Lists or papers prepared for voting, or stealing or destroying any of these lists or papers, or committing any act with the intention of affecting the integrity and secrecy of the election procedures. In this case he shall be served with the maximum punishment provided in this Article. Committing any of the prohibited acts provided for in Articles 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, and 65 of this Law.
Article 67	Anyone who seizes or tries to seize a ballot box before the Polling papers therein have been canvassed shall be punished with hard labor for a period of not less than five years and not more than ten years and with a penalty of not less than one thousand Dinars and not more than five thousand Dinars. Anyone who intervenes in carrying out this crime or instigates or assists in the perpetration thereof shall be served with the same punishment.
Article 68	If any committee member appointed to compile or review the Electoral lists, or to conduct the voting and canvassing procedures, or to count the votes; or any employee entrusted with supervising any of these procedures in accordance with the provisions of this Law, committed any of the following acts, he shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one year and not more than three years, or by a penalty of not less than five hundred Dinars and not more than one thousand Dinars, or by both penalties: Deliberately entering in any Electoral List the name of a person who does not enjoy the right to vote in accordance with the provisions of this Law, or deliberately omitting from or not entering in such Lists the name of any person who enjoys the right to register therein as a voter in accordance with the same provisions. Knowingly making a false statement in the application or announcement of candidacy, or in any of the statements therein, or in the date of the submission thereof, or in any of the records minuted in accordance with the provisions of this Law, or in the submitted objection to the Electoral Lists, or in any other document drawn in accordance with the provisions of this Law. Unjustly seizing or hiding any of the documents pertaining to the election, or committing any forgery therein, including the destruction, tearing or smearing thereof. Delaying without grounds of law the time designated of the candidates or their delegates before beginning the voting process to make sure that it is empty. Failing to open the ballot box in the presence of the candidates or their delegates before beginning the voting process to make sure that it is empty. Refraining from implementing any provision of this Law pertaining to the processes and procedures of voting and vote canvassing, or violating that provision with the intent of influencing the result of the election.
Article 69	Any attempt to commit any of the election crimes laid down under this Law, as well as the penalty therefor, shall be punishable in accordance with the provisions of the effective Penal Law in light of the penalty specified therefor in this Law.
Article 70	The perpetrator of any violation of the provisions of this Law for which no penalty has been provided shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of not less than a month and not more than three months, or with a penalty of not less than fifty Dinars and not more than two hundred Dinars, or with both penalties.
Article 71	All election crimes provided for in this Law shall abate by prescription after the lapse of six months from the date of announcing the election results.
Article 72	The Council of Ministers may issue the regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Law.
Article 73	The Minister of Interior may issue the instructions necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Law and the regulations issued in accordance therewith, provided that such instructions do not violate the provisions of the Law or the Regulations in any shape or form.
Article 74	The Law of Election to the House of Deputies No. (24) for the year 1960, as well as the amendments thereto and the regulations issued in accordance therewith are repealed; the procedures in accordance with which the members of the House of Deputies existing when this Law is issued shall, however, remain valid and legal until the term of that House expires for any reason whatsoever.
Article 75	The Prime Minister and the Ministers are charged with the implementation of the provisions of this Law.