The 24 polling booths in towns in Samaria and in Jericho were closed tonight after 85 percent of the voters participated in the first municipal elections in the West Bank since the Six-Day War. The voting was held in school buildings without any disturbances even though the Jordanian regime and the terrorist organizations–which oppose each other fiercely on the question of relations with Israel–both objected to the elections. Reinforced police lines were largely unnecessary.
The high percentage of voter participation was seen as a substantial success for the Israeli administration in Judea and Samaria. In the last elections–under the Jordanian regime eight years ago–75 percent of the eligible voters (property-owning males over 21) turned out. Of the 400,000 inhabitants of Samaria, only 16,950 were eligible today under Jordanian law.
The voting results were expected to be known after midnight (6 p.m. New York time). All incumbent mayors were up for election, and there were 145 candidates for 82 council seats. The elections in Judea will be held May 2. The voting today was covered by some 100 Israeli and foreign newsmen.
Official sources dismissed speculation that the West Bank would be granted some kind of political autonomy, stressing that the balloting was confined to the municipal level. But there was significance in the fact that the traditional West Bank leadership, holdovers from the Jordanian administration, was being challenged by new blood for the first time since the Six-Day War.
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