MANAMA, 1 November — Polls closed in the second and final round of Bahrain’s legislative elections yesterday, with Islamists looking to top up their gains and one female candidate hoping to become the first woman elected to parliament in any of the six Gulf Arab states.
Polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) after growing numbers of voters cast their ballots in the afternoon in the first legislative elections since Bahrain’s parliament was dissolved in 1975. Turnout was higher in constituencies where candidates backed by political groups faced off than in districts where independents were running.
Fewer than half the house’s 40 seats were decided in last week’s first round, leaving runoffs in 21 constituencies. One of two women among the 42 candidates taking part in the runoff has high hopes of beating her rival, a preacher. If independent Lateefa al-Guoud, 46, wins she would become the first woman elected to parliament in any of the GCC states. Many women went to vote in Guoud’s first constituency in the southern province, where turnout appeared to be high.“Men too voted en masse for me,” she said. (AFP)
