HC Deb 30 March 1936 vol 310 cc1633-4W
Mr. CREECH JONES

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what percentage of the population of Palestine are entitled to vote, either on the municipal or local council franchise, Arab, Jewish, and all others, respectively?

Mr. THOMAS

The numbers of registered voters in 1934 were: Arabs, 2.57 per cent. Of the Arab population; Jews, 14.71 per cent. of the Jewish population. The number of all other communities are very small, These figures exclude local councils in the Northern District, for which information is not immediately available, but it is understood that their inclusion would not sensibly affect the percentages.

Mr. CREECH JONES

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in actual practice, the municipal ordinance of 1934 extended or reduced the number of inhabitants entitled to vote in municipal and local council elections in Palestine under the franchise existing in 1927?

Mr. THOMAS

The number of persons entitled to vote under the Municipal Corporations Ordinance, 1934, is considerably larger than in 1927 both in preexisting municipal areas and in the former local council area of Tel-Aviv. Comparative totals of the more important electorates are as follow:

1927. 1934.
Jerusalem 3,276 8,802
Tel-Aviv 11,860 25,070*
Jaffa 2,766 4,859
Haifa 4,590 8,602
* 1936 figure for Tel-Aviv.
In practice there has been no narrowing down of the 1927 franchise. The qualifications for voting in municipal elections under the Ordinance of 1934 are identical in almost every material particular with those previously in force under the Municipal Franchise Ordinance, 1927, or the Local Council Order of Tel-Aviv, with two small differences, which if anything enlarge the franchise.