Candidates gear up for municipal election

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs has set up 85 elections centers for women candidates and voters in Riyadh, with 10 on standby for emergency purposes.

Haifa Al-Nassar, director general of the women’s department of the Riyadh secretariat, said that there were no seat quotas on councils for either women or men.
“Whoever gets the most votes will win the seat,” she said.
Speaking at a press conference, Al-Nassar said voting, and all other operations, would take place electronically and in accordance with Islamic laws, according to a report in a local publication recently.
She said all candidates must be at least 25 years old and completed high school. In addition, men and women candidates would not be allowed to publish photographs of themselves during their campaigns. There were penalties for violators, she said.
Al-Nassar rejected reports claiming that the secretariat had already received applications from candidates and voters. There was a timeframe for these processes, she said.
She said the municipality would launch awareness campaigns at schools to ensure that students understand how the elections would be run, including registration, campaigning, voting and the announcement of results.
Al-Nassar said the government has not given any financial support to candidates to run in the upcoming polls. The ministry has set up a special committee to deal with inquiries about the polls.
“The whole election process has been thoroughly organized, down to the smallest details, taking into account the principles of integrity, justice, and total neutrality,” she said.
She said the secretariat has been working with the Islamic Affairs Ministry to ensure that imams inform the public about the importance of participating in the polls.
The municipal elections will be held between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Dec. 12 with the results announced the following day, according to reports.
The whole election process, including campaigning by candidates, takes place over three months. Voters can register between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. from Aug. 22 to Sept. 14. Candidates can do so from Aug. 30 to Sept. 17.
Preliminary lists of candidates will be published on Sept. 30 while the last date for withdrawal is Nov. 19, when the final list of candidates will be announced.