Al Arab, 3 November 2024: The Justice Ministry has published issue No. 16 of the Official Gazette for the year 2024, which included a number of decrees and decisions related to the referendum on constitutional amendments.

The most prominent items in the Official Gazette were Qatar Decree No. 87/2024 calling on citizens to vote in the referendum, the draft constitutional amendments for 2024 to the Permanent Constitution of Qatar, and Qatar Decision No. 1/2024 of the Chairman of the General Committee for the Referendum on naming the Chairman and members of the General Committee for the Referendum on the draft constitutional amendments for 2024 to the Permanent Constitution of Qatar.

The Official Gazette included three major decisions issued by the Chairman of the General Committee for the Referendum.

Qatar Decision No. 2/2024 has established the Executive Committee responsible for preparing for the referendum on Qatar’s 2024 draft constitutional amendments, as well as its sub-committees and their respective tasks.

Qatar Decision No. 2/2024 has addressed the formation of referendum committees for the draft amendments, specifying their tasks, procedures, and headquarters.

Lastly, Qatar Decision No. 4/2024 has set out the regulations and procedures for conducting the referendum remotely.

Article 1 of Qatar Decision No. 4/2024 issued by the Chairman of the General Committee for the Referendum, outlines the regulations and procedures for conducting the (remote) referendum on the draft constitutional amendments to the Permanent Constitution of the State of Qatar.

It specifies that the referendum process will proceed as follows:

First, regarding the procedures and controls for the (remote) voting process, an electronic remote voting system will be implemented via the (Metarash 2) application.

This system allows all Qatari citizens, both inside and outside Qatar, who are at least eighteen years old on the day of the referendum, to participate.

They will cast their votes on the draft constitutional amendments through a general referendum scheduled for Tuesday, 3/5/1446 AH, corresponding to 05/11/2024 AD.

The (remote) voting service on (Metarash 2) will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.

To cast a vote, the individual must access the (Metarash 2) application, select the “Vote” icon, and accept the terms and conditions.

Once identity verification is completed, they can choose between “Yes” or “No” to express their opinion on the draft amendments. The vote is finalised by selecting the “Confirm” icon.

Second, for the (remote) vote counting process, the Executive Committee will oversee the counting procedure after the voting period ends.

Votes cast through the (remote) application will be electronically sorted into “Yes” and “No” groups.

The Chairman of the Technical Committee will then compile and verify the results from both (remote) voting and electronic voting, document them in an official record, and submit them to the Chairman of the Executive Committee.

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