Palestinian local elections in the West Bank are slated to take place this weekend after several rounds of delays. The Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas is boycotting the polls, ensuring that the currently ruling Fatah party will dominate the results. Moreover, turnout is expected to be lower than in past Palestinian elections, and the lack of enthusiasm combined with the Hamas boycott has the potential to badly damage the results’ legitimacy. The Palestinian Authority is expected to seek non-member statehood status in the United Nations later this year, and has been struggling to overcome a perceived lack of legitimacy by building democratic and civil institutions. The problematic election, along with widespread economic disfunction and the split between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the Fatah-controlled West Bank, continue to undermine those efforts.

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