Many female activists held the elections up as an important opportunity to be heard in a country where women remain banned from driving and subject to strict male guardianship laws.
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The official election results released on Monday in Riyadh indicated 19 women have been elected to Saudi Arabia’s local councils after the first election in which women were allowed to compete.
Of course women’s participation was met with discrimination and refusal, according to Alarabiya, a lot of religious police forces were seen handing out pamphlets that accuse anyone who votes for women in elections as a sinner. Twenty of them have been elected to serve as municipal councilors, a largely ceremonial position in a government that remains an autocratic monarchy. Women have also been appointed to the Shura Council, though it functions as little more than an advisory body to the absolute monarch, King Salman. Women voters said registration was hindered by factors including bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of transportation. “People are used to only voting for male candidates, so trying to support and promote women candidates was a very big challenge”. The Eastern Province, where minority Shiia are concentrated, saw two women elected, said Hamad Al-Omar, who heads the General Election Commission’s media council to local media.
As a result, women accounted for less than 10 percent of registered voters. Women won only 20 seats out of more than 2,000 in local councils across the country, but it was more than the candidates expected. “Female candidates say the election is another symbolic step”.
Getting to a polling station isn’t so simple for women as they can only drive to a polling station in the company of a man.
“The unofficial count came back and said I’d won, but I didn’t want to celebrate until it was official”.
The women were allowed to vote and contest in the municipal election in accordance to the royal decree issued in 2011. This included about 119,000 women, out of a total native Saudi population of nearly 21mn.
Baha’s overall turnout for men and women combined was 51.5 percent, SPA said, without providing figures for other regions.
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At least three activists claimed in the run up to the election that they were disqualified from contesting.
