RIYADH, 23 November 2004 — Over the next one month, citizens in Riyadh will register to take part in the landmark municipal elections, which are to be conducted throughout the country in three phases.
The first ever Kingdomwide polls will kick off in the Riyadh region on Feb. 10 when half the members of the province’s 178 municipal councils will be elected. The government will nominate the remaining half.
The election committee has set up 140 polling stations in schools, universities and sports clubs in Riyadh for the registration process, which is to continue for 30 days beginning today.
All voter registration centers will remain open from 4.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. Those who registered will get a special voter ID card.
Saudi authorities have ruled out participation of women in this election. They have also said that the elections will be conducted without the presence of foreign observers.
Local newspapers have started publishing advertisements urging citizens to take part in the unprecedented exercise. “Your vote defines the course of your future” and “Participate in decision-making,” read the messages in the advertisements. Billboards and banners with similar messages are put up along the main streets of the capital, home to some three million people.
The polling stations started functioning yesterday with officials answering queries from citizens about the voting process. They entertained questions for one hour between Maghreb and Isha prayers.
Authorities attributed the poor turnout at polling stations yesterday to the public’s lack of understanding about the electoral process. “Participation in the elections is a civic duty,” they reminded the citizens.
Regulations issued on Aug. 9 by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs stated that all citizens over the age of 21, except military personnel, will be eligible to vote.
The municipal council in Riyadh will have 14 members with seven of them elected and seven appointed. The term of office will be four years beginning from the day the member takes oath.
According to the committee supervising the elections, an agreement has been reached with a private company for the installation of a computerized network, which will store all data related to registration and polling centers.
The network will store each citizen’s name, his age, his ID number and place of birth. It will also record the ballot center at which he registers to vote.
Saudis in the Eastern Province, Asir, Jizan, Najran and Baha regions will go to the polls in the second phase. The third phase will include the regions of Makkah, Madinah, Qasim, Tabuk, Hail, Jouf and the Northern Region.
Saudi leaders promised in October last year to organize the elections within a year, but a campaign of violence orchestrated by suspected Al-Qaeda militants forced the authorities to delay the process.
