[3] The Palestinian Legislative Council passed a law in June 2005 (signed by Abbas on 13 August 2005), to increase the number of members from 88 to 132, with half to be elected using proportional representation and half by plurality-at-large voting in traditional constituencies.
In 2007, a presidential decree abolished the constituency seats with all seats to be elected from a national list, and prohibited parties which did not acknowledge the Palestine Liberation Organization's right to represent the Palestinian people (specifically Hamas) from contesting the election.
[5] An opinion poll suggested that a majority of Palestinians supported the change, while Hamas called it illegal.
[14] Following the Fatah–Hamas conflict that started in 2006, Hamas formed a government ruling the Gaza Strip without elections.
Gazan Prime Minister Haniyye announced in September 2012 the formation of a second Hamas government, also without elections.
[15] Mahmoud Abbas gained 62.52% of the vote at the 2005 presidential election, while his most important competing candidate, Mustafa Barghouti, won 19.48%.
The last stage was on December 23, 2005, with elections in 26 municipalities that had over 140,000 registered voters in Jericho and 25 villages in the West Bank.
Four year term of local councils in Palestinian Authority expired in January 2009.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) was given the task of voter registration.
[19] One of the leading organizations for the ESRG is the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, which has actively assisted the Central Election Commission in 2004–2005 with the help of USAID.