Saudi Arabia holds first ever election open to women

Covered from head-to-toe and driven by male guardians, Saudi women voted Saturday for the first time, in a tentative step towards easing sex discrimination in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom.

The participation of Saudi Arabian women both as voters and as candidates for 3159 municipal council seats formed from 284 municipal councils is considered an important turning point for Saudi Arabia.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not running to win”, Amal Badreldin al-Sawari, 60, a Pediatrician in central Riyadh, who runs for local municipal council, said.

Ahmad Abdel Aziz Soulaybi, 78, said he did not know enough about female candidates in his region to support any.

A Saudi lady casts her ballot at a polling center throughout municipal elections in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sat., Dec. 12.

She said she became a candidate out of patriotism and because Islam gives women rights.

Women are also said to have experienced red-tape trying to get their name on the electoral register.

While restriction remains extremely tight on what women can and cannot do, Saturday’s poll will see more than 130,000 women cast their vote – compared with 1.35 million men. Saudi women are also governed by guardianship laws that require them to have the permission of male relatives, usually the father or husband, in order to marry, obtain a passport, travel overseas or access higher education.

The decision to include women in the vote was made by the ate King Abdullah, who said before his death that Saudi women “have demonstrated positions that expressed correct opinions and advice”. On Saturday 424 female-only polling booths had been set-up across the country. “We are everywhere in our country the same as any man”, she said. She’s running in this weekend’s elections. Although in current years rights of Saudi women have been prolonged, their actions are still severely restricted.

Hana Al-Zuhair, the head of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Fund for Women’s Development, told Arab News from Alkhobar that she was very proud of what was happening.

Saudi officials first proposed allowing women to vote in 2005, according to Human Rights Watch. They dislike seeing women in public-facing roles.

Two years later, he ordered that at least 20% of seats in the Consultative Council be set aside for women.