Ramallah, Feb 11 (IANS): The Palestinian Central Elections Commission (PCEC) announced that 2.3 million voters have already been registered to cast their ballots in the upcoming general elections.

The PCEC said in a statement issued on Wednesday that 2.8 million people in the Palestinian territories have the right to vote, adding that 82 per cent of them have already been registered, reports Xinhua news agency.

On Wednesday, the PCEC opened its election registration offices in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, one day after 14 Palestinian factions agreed to hold the legislative and presidential elections as scheduled.

According to the PCEC statement, Palestinian citizens in East Jerusalem, who hold Israeli identity cards, will participate in the general elections without being registered in the Commission's voter registry.

It added that the registration process will continue until February 15.

In a presidential decree issued last month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the legislative elections will be held on May 22, presidential elections on July 31, and the Palestinian National Council elections on August 31.

The last Palestinian presidential elections were held in March 2005 and the legislative elections in January 2006.

The Islamic Hamas movement had won a majority.