RIYADH: The executive committee of the municipal elections has announced that 500 candidates have been barred from participating in the polls to be held on Dec. 12 from 8 a.m.to 5 p.m.

“Their exclusion is due to violation of rules and regulations,” Judea Al-Qahtani, executive committee chairman and spokesman for the municipal elections, told reporters.

Earlier, the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs banned the display of photos of candidates during campaigning. There are 6,917 candidates, of whom 979 are women.

He urged the controllers of local committees to make daily and unscheduled visits to the areas where the candidates are conducting their campaigns and ensure that they have the required licenses.

“If there are violations, these should be referred to the committees which in turn will refer them to the violation inspectors,” he said.

On electronic voting, he expressed doubts regarding its transparency. He preferred that voters cast their votes at the ballot box.

He said that other had countries adopted electronic voting during elections in the past but eventually dropped the idea and resorted to voting at the ballot box.

He added that he will be available on election day to members of the press and other interested individuals who may want to interview him on election day regarding the results of the election.

“We’ll brief them on the process of opening the ballot box and the screening process. The names of the winners will also be audibly read and counted for transparency,” Al-Qahtani said.

He said that the media will be allowed to witness the opening of the ballot boxes and the counting of votes, but reporters would not be allowed to enter the hall to meet candidates nor pose for photographs with them.

Over 1.48 million men and women have been registered to vote in the elections this year. Of that number, 1.35 million are men and 130,637 women.