Suspicious money, relatives and tax evaders are banned from the localities

The Independent National Elections Authority closed the door to suspicious money and family ties on the lists of candidates for the next November 28 localities, after stipulating that the candidate not be known to the public for his connection to suspicious financial and business circles or for influencing the freedom of voters, and forbade the registration of more than two candidates from the same family by kinship or second-degree affinity on the same list, at a time when the newly created states benefited from a special exemption from collecting signatures, once the lists met one of the conditions for recommendation in the state. Mother during the recent local elections.
In this context, the authority explained, in a statement, that the general conditions required for candidates require fulfilling the conditions stipulated in Article 50 of Order No. 21-01 relating to the electoral system, amended and supplemented, and that the candidate be registered in the electoral district in which he is running. It is also required that the candidate be at least 23 years old on the day of the poll, and that he be of Algerian nationality, in addition to proving the performance of national service or exemption from it. The candidate must also not be a convicted person. He shall be permanently subject to a penalty of deprivation of liberty for committing a felony or misdemeanor and he has not been rehabilitated, with the exception of unintentional misdemeanors.
Regarding the tax status, the candidate must prove his status before the tax administration, whether by finally paying the tax amounts due, or by scheduling, or by proving that he is not subject to tax. The election authority also stipulated that the candidate must not be known to the public for his connection to financial and suspicious business circles, or his influence, directly or indirectly, on the free choice of voters and the proper conduct of the electoral process, and that he must not be a non-electable office holder.

This is how lists are formed
Regarding the general conditions related to the formation of lists of candidates, the authority explained that, in accordance with Article 176 of Order No. 21-01 relating to the electoral system, amended and supplemented, the list of candidates for the municipal and state popular councils must include a number of candidates greater than the number of seats required to be filled, and the number of additional candidates shall be seven in electoral districts whose number of seats is odd, and six candidates in electoral districts whose number of seats is even.
The controls for forming lists are not limited to the number of candidates, as the lists submitted for the elections must, under penalty of rejection of the list, take into account a set of conditions related to the representation of women, youth, and holders of university degrees. Accordingly, a third of the candidates must be allocated to women, but this condition only applies in municipalities with a population of more than 20,000 people. At least half of the nominations must be allocated to candidates who are not more than 40 years old on the day of voting, and at least a third of the list candidates must have a university level of education. As for the arrangement of the candidates on the nomination lists, it is done by the party or the independent list candidates concerned, as the case may be, as the law stipulates that no more than one person can be registered on the same nomination list. Two candidates belonging to the same family, whether by kinship or by second-degree marriage.

These are the nomination file documents
With regard to the formation of the collective declaration file for candidacy, the authority explained that the declaration is made on a special form for filing the list of candidates, in the form of a file folder for the election of members of the Municipal People’s Assembly or the election of members of the State People’s Assembly, as the case may be, and the file is attached to the list of candidates in the form of a double sheet of paper that includes the information for each candidate, male or female, on the list, along with a printout that includes an information card for each candidate, male or female.
The file must also be accompanied by a document proving the recommendation of the party or parties for lists submitted under the auspices of a political party, a certificate of nationality for each candidate, a copy of the voter’s card or a certificate of registration on the electoral list in the electoral district. The file also includes a certificate proving performance of national service or exemption from it for each candidate, and a copy of a certificate proving the educational level of each candidate. Regarding the tax status, a document must be submitted proving the status of each candidate, male or female, before the tax administration, whether through final payment of the tax amounts due, through scheduling, or through proof of not being subject to tax.
It is also necessary to submit the minutes of approval of the individual signature forms prepared by the head of the municipal committee to review the relevant regional electoral lists, as the case may be, and to add to these documents, when necessary, a certificate of exemption from the one-third requirement with regard to the representation of women, as well as the electoral campaign programme.

Three formulas for recommending lists
Regarding the recommendation of lists of candidates, the authority stated that Article 178 of Order No. 21-01 relating to the electoral system, amended and supplemented, stipulates the explicit recommendation of a list of candidates, whether under the title of a political party or more, or under the title of a free list, according to specific formulas, and the recommendation takes place first, by the political parties that obtained more than 4 percent of the votes expressed in the electoral district in which the candidate was nominated during the last local elections.
Recommendation can also be made by political parties that have at least 10 elected in the local popular councils of the state in question. However, in the event that a list is submitted under the auspices of a political party that does not meet one of the two conditions mentioned above, or under the auspices of a political party participating in the elections for the first time, or in the event that a list is submitted under the title of a free list, the list must be supported by no less than 35 signatures from the voters of the relevant electoral district, for each seat required to be filled.

Special exemption for new states
Regarding the new states, the transitional and final provisions contained in Article 12 of Organic Law No. 26-05 of Shawwal 16, 1447, corresponding to April 4, 2026, amending and supplementing Order No. 21-01, stipulate that lists of candidates deposited under the auspices of one or more political parties are exempt from the requirement to collect signatures stipulated above.
Candidate lists in the newly created states benefit from this exemption if they meet one of the two conditions mentioned in the first and second points, i.e. obtaining more than 4 percent of the votes expressed in the electoral district, or the party has at least ten elected members in the local popular councils, in the home state during the last local elections.
In a related context, the head of the Independent National Election Authority, Saed Arous, received on Tuesday the Minister of Communication, Mamda Bousleimani, as part of the coordination meetings held by the head of the Independent National Election Authority with members of the government to discuss a number of issues related to the preparation for the election of members of the municipal and state popular councils, scheduled for next November 28.
The same source explained that this meeting comes within “the efforts to strengthen institutional coordination between the independent authority and the Ministry of Communication,” given “the pivotal role played by the communication sector in accompanying the various stages of the electoral process, especially in ensuring that accurate and reliable electoral information reaches the citizen and providing the appropriate conditions for responsible, transparent and objective media coverage.”