DAMMAM, 23 February 2006 — After five days of voting, the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce & Industry (EPCCI) closed its election boxes yesterday.
The turnout for the poll was estimated at 4,200 out of 11,000 eligible voters, or just over 38 percent. Vote counting went on late into the night.
The elections took place in different areas of the province in order to make it easier for chamber members to vote. The last two days were the most important for the candidates because voting took place at the chamber’s home city of Dammam and a great number of voters were expected.
On Tuesday, about 2,000 businessmen entered the chamber during its morning and evening periods in order to cast their votes. Yesterday an additional estimated 500 showed up.
Religious tropisms played a large role in the elections between different groups. Extolling the values of one candidate over another occurred by SMS, Internet forums, e-mails and hearsay. Some candidates even designed cards similar to the cards of other candidates, which had a confusing effect in some cases.
After several months of preparations, the Al-Taawun Group — one of the coalitions vying for the board seats — decided to gather all candidates and their people for a meeting before the announcement of the results to express their thanks to everyone.
Results will be announced today after counting the votes to know the 12 elected members of the administrative board whereas six more members will be assigned. Although women candidates have a very slim chance in winning, they are hoping to garner at least one of the seats. If this happens, it won’t be because of the turnout of the already-slim margin of chamber members that are women: Only 417 of the 11,000 eligible voters are women, and only 42 of them cast their franchises.
Aisha Al-Manee, a businesswoman and the owner of Al-Manee Hospital, had a special award that she wanted to give to the 100th woman voter as a way of attracting and encouraging women to vote. Nobody received the prize.
Laila Al-Arifi, a candidate from the Al-Watani Group, said the low turnout of women voters isn’t surprising. “There were lots of women who came but had problems with their papers and couldn’t vote,” she said. “Also, some establishments have women names but the owners are men. So, this number was expected.”
