Jordanians went to the polls yesterday. A total of 763 candidates, including 143 women, vied for 120 seats in parliament. As the voting continued, Twitter user Naseem Tawarnah provided up-to-the-minute updates of allegations of violence and voting fraud.
He began in [1]the morning:
Arrests of 40 people in Madaba and 10 in Jerash where fights have broken out on #JOelections day http://is.gd/gRnKP #JO
The posts continued [2]:
Armed men block voters from getting to polls in Mafraq. More forged ID cards found in Ramtha. Oh Joy. http://is.gd/gRnRz #JOelections
Before noon, the pace of tweets picked up, and Tawarnah was adding [3] timestamps to his posts.
11:37am: Supporters shoot up the car of a rival candidate in Madaba. No injuries. http://is.gd/gRrUi #JOelections
He reported violence in Ma'an [4], Madaba [5], Amman [6], Mafraq [7] and Tafila [8], respectively.
11:48am: Police arrest 4 men armed with AK-47s in Ma'an, one of whom is the brother of a candidate. http://is.gd/gRsDp #JOelections
11:57am: Drunk driver rams car into polling station. Injures 2. Police arrest 30 knife/axe-wielding citizens http://is.gd/gRrUi #JOelections
12:01pm: Police clash with Amman 5th district candidate who questioned the integrity of the voting process http://is.gd/gRrUi #JOelections
Fight breaks out between 3 candidates in Mafraq. Polling station committee chair beaten up & his cell stolen http://is.gd/gRrUi #joelections
Police use tear gas in Tafieleh 2break up crowd of supporters attempting 2 block voters of another candidate http://is.gd/gRrUi #JOelections
Later, Tawarnah reported [9] with irony,
12:33pm: Minister of Interior blames low Amman turnout on “pampered” residents who wake up late. Priceless http://is.gd/gRrUi #JOelections