Saudis sign up to vote in Dec. 12 elections

Citizens all over the Kingdom except the two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah on Saturday started registering to vote in the nationwide municipal council elections in December.

A source from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs said the registration process would continue for 21 days. Candidate registration will start on Aug. 30 in all regions except in Makkah and Madinah, where the process will begin on Sunday.

Women are registering to vote in the elections for the first time in the history of Saudi Arabia.

In 2011, King Abdullah issued a royal order granting women the right to participate as voters and candidates in the 2015 elections, the third in the history of the Kingdom.

The registration process in Makkah and Madinah started a week earlier in anticipation of logistics problems resulting from the influx of pilgrims to the two holy cities for the upcoming Haj.

“There are 1,263 election centers in all regions and provinces of the Kingdom — 839 of the centers are for men, 424 centers for women," the source said, adding that 250 centers are set aside as reserves and will open if needed. The third phase started earlier in Makkah and Madinah and is still ongoing,” said the source.

“The centers will be open six days a week from Saturday to Thursday for five hours each day. To register to vote, citizens must be 18 years old, should not have any criminal records and must be a resident in the city where they are registered,” said the source.

The source also said citizens wishing to register must produce their national IDs and proof of residence.

“The proof of residence could be a copy of a house ownership deed, a copy of a rent agreement authenticated by the district mayor or the police, a copy of a utility bill where the citizen’s name and residence location is stated clearly, an official statement from the employer stating the citizen’s location of residence authenticated by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry if the citizen works in the private sector and a copy of the family ID,” explained the source.

The source also said citizens must also present documentations of the people they are residing with if they are not residing alone.

“Citizens can search for the nearest election center by visiting the websitehttp://www.intekhab.gov.sa and then clicking on map of election centers. The user can then choose from the drop-down list the election committee of his city,” said the source.

The source also said citizens can download the app Intekhab available for IOS and Android.

“The app has all of the services available on the website in addition to the voters profile once they register. Citizens can also call 199040 to inquire about the elections and the registration process. Voters can also text 500103 followed by *1* and the voter’s ID number to receive information on the voter’s status,” said the source.

The elections will take place on Dec. 12 and the results will be announced the next day.