Saudi Arabian municipal elections, 2015
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2/3 of seats in 284 municipalities |
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| Turnout | 47% | |
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Elections were held in Saudi Arabia on 12 December 2015 for municipal councils, which have limited decision-making powers on local issues such as rubbish collection and street maintenance. The previous two elections, in 2005 and 2011, were for half the council seats and were open to male candidates and voters only. The 2015 election was for two thirds of the council seats, on 284 municipal councils, with both male and female candidates and voters. This was the first election in Saudi Arabia in which women were allowed to vote, the first in which they were allowed to run for office, and the first in which women were elected as politicians.
Half the seats in municipal councils in Saudi Arabia were chosen in men-only elections in 2005 and 2011. The municipal councils reportedly have "little power" in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy. Saudi Arabian women campaigned for the right to participate in the 2011 elections, organising through the "Baladi" (My Country) and Saudi Women's Revolution campaigns for women's right to participate. Several women tried to register as electors in Jeddah,Riyadh, and Dammam. A few days before the 2011 election took place, King Abdullah announced that women would be able to participate as voters and candidates in the 2015 election.
In the 2015 municipal elections, two-thirds of the council seats were elected positions, and women were allowed as candidates and voters.
Voter registration started on 16 August 2015 in Medina and Mecca, and elsewhere on 22 August, to continue for a 21-day period.
Two women voters registered in Medina and Mecca on 16 August.Hatoon al-Fassi of the Baladi campaign said that Baladi had intended to organise training sessions for voter education but was blocked by the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
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