Saudi Women Register to Vote for First Time in Municipal Elections
For the first time in history, Saudi Arabia allows its women the right to vote in the December municipal elections
Though women in Saudi Arabia are still not allowed to work, study or marry without a male guardian’s permission, they will now be able to vote in the upcoming municipal elections. This is a landmark move taken by the Arab state as it takes a step towards gender equality.
Not just voting, women in the King Salman-ruled desert country will also be able to stand for the December elections this time. Jamal Al-Saadi and Safinaz Abu Al-Shamat from Mecca and Medina were the first women to register as voters.
According to the Saudi Gazette, a third of the 1,263 voting centres are being set aside for female voters.
Citizens credit this move to local women leaders and the newly-crowned King. The December polls would be the third municipal elections since 2005.
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