The 2005 Palestinian presidential election was held in an orderly fashion, thanks in great part to the cooperation received from Palestinian citizens. However, with respect to the electoral process to this point, the
CEC makes the following two qualifications: 1. Israeli forces which continue to occupy Palestine imposed huge obstacles to the participation of Jerusalemite citizens in the elections. 2. On Election Day, the
CEC received thousands of telephone calls from individuals whose names appear on the civil register, but who were unable to locate their polling centers. It became clear that this problem had the potential to deprive many voters of their voting rights.