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Saudi Arabia – Women to Participate in Supervision of Municipal Elections for the First Time

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13 July 2015 - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Twenty-three women employees at the Jeddah municipality have been assigned to supervise municipal elections, which have women contestants for the first time. 

 

According to sources quoted by local media, there will be 10 women election campaign supervisors, 10 adjunct wardens, an administrative assistant, a local committee representative and a representative to rule in contestations. 


Election centers are distributed over 108 centers in Jeddah and its governorates, with 45 centers allocated for men and 19 for women. The number of female centers in governorates affiliated with Jeddah reached 15 for women and 29 for men, with six extra centers. 


Sources pointed out that stages for the third election cycle will start in August. This election will witness a number of updates which have been approved by the new municipal council system; there will be an increased percentage of elected municipal council members to two-thirds after they were one half, and the age of registered voters has been changed to 18 instead of 21 which will increase youth participation in the elections. 


This election will also witness the participation of women as both candidates and voters, and they will be allowed, for the first time, to nominate those who are capable of dealing with civic issues.

 

Election headquarters for female voters will be held in female education centers, which are located on main streets and not very far from male voting centers. 


The president of the municipal council in Jeddah governorate, Dr. Abdulmalik Al-Jundaidi, said conditions for candidacy in the municipal elections are easy: The candidate doesn’t need to have a university degree, secondary school education will be sufficient; he should have a clean security record; and have good knowledge of municipal work. 


He pointed out that the municipal council doesn’t interfere with the elections, since there are independent committees from Jeddah municipality to supervise them.