MANAMA: Voters returned to the polls Saturday for a runoff election being boycotted by the opposition for Bahrain’s first new Parliament since protests erupted nearly four years ago.

The elections will determine the makeup of the 40-seat lower house of Parliament. It follows a first-round vote last weekend, when only six candidates secured an outright majority to claim their seats.

Largely people felt it was important to make their voices heard.

“I am here to vote because I have to be part of the democratic process, which took 100 years to be completed in other countries,” said Zahra Gulam Taher, a Bahraini businesswoman from Jidhafs, a largely Shiite area in the north of the country.

The lower house of Parliament has limited direct powers but carries important symbolism as part of political reforms begun more than a decade ago.

Members of a 40-seat upper house are appointed by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.