RIYADH: The Saudi capital saw a good voter turnout for the municipal election on Saturday as voters arrived to cast their votes at the ballot box at 8 a.m. that continued till 5 p.m.

Many of them started to arrive early at the 253 polling stations, enthusiastically talked about the election and waited for their turn to vote.

Earlier, the Riyadh Poll Committee had ensured that this year’s election will be held in a transparent manner without any discrimination against candidates.

“The candidates will be entitled to all their rights and duties related to the electoral campaign,” Riyadh Poll Committee head Abdullah Al-Askar told a press conference last Thursday.

Of the total number of polling stations, 168 were designed for men and 85 for women.

The Poll Executive Committee noted an orderly voting exercise which went uninterrupted during the allocated nine-hour period.

A total of 1,250 candidates were running in the landmark local municipal election in the Saudi capital.

Of the number, there were 240 women, who were hoping that they could make it so that, as one of them put it, “we could participate in the decision-making process.”

They were happy regarding their election participation , adding that “it’s the first time that women are allowed to participate as candidates in the municipal election.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not running to win,” said Amal Badreldin Al-Sawari, a 60-year-old pediatrician in central Riyadh told AFP news agency.

“I think I have done the winning by running,” she said, adding that she became a candidate out of patriotism because Islam gives women rights.

In the lead up to the election, women were prohibited from campaigning in public, leaving many of them to campaign over the Internet where both men and women could see it.

Mona Abu Suliman, a media personality, said that even if women don’t win, just “going through this process is important.”

“Recognizing women’s votes in decision-making is a step toward equality,” she said.

In a press conference on Thursday, Al-Askar said that 110 candidates, both male and female, were barred from the election while 40 candidates withdrew.

Those barred from running in the election had violated election rules and regulations by “displaying their photos during the campaign.”

But despite this, the electoral exercise proceeded at fever pitch.