Challenging the Validity of Membership of the House of Representatives in Jordan

This chapter aims to analyze the legal means available to challenge the validity of membership in the Jordanian House of Representatives, which is considered as one face of electoral disputes that arise after the completion of the voting process and the announcement of final results. The chapter focuses on the scrutiny that the Jordanian judiciary exercises in case of contesting the election procedures and consequently claiming that the membership of a certain candidate is void, from the legitimacy and constitutionality perspectives. The oversight of legitimacy revolves around the extent to which electoral procedures were violated, whereas the constitutional control relates to the extent the Law of Election is compatible with or contravenes the provisions of the Jordanian Constitution. Both methods were substantially revised in 2011, upon the comprehensive constitutional reform that Jordan conducted. Finally, the chapter deals with the legal implications of applying both the legitimacy and constitutional scrutiny with respect to the membership of those elected to the Jordanian House of Representatives.