17 Women to Take Office After Saudi Arabia’s First Election Open to Both Sexes

Seventeen women were voted into public office on Saturday during landmark municipal elections in Saudi Arabia, the first time the conservative Islamic kingdom has allowed female participation at the polls.

Saudi Arabia was the last country in the world to forbid women from voting. Women are still barred from driving, and are legally dependent on a male relative to approve almost all their major life decisions.

Sabq.org, a news website affiliated with the autocratic monarchy's Interior Ministry, reported that a total of 17 women were elected in various parts of the country. The election was for only two thirds of seats in municipal councils that have no lawmaking or national powers, and follows men-only polls in 2005 and 2011.

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Under King Abdullah, who died in January, steps were taken for women to have a bigger public role in the country, sending more of them to university and encouraging female employment. Despite the historic enfranchisement, however, segregation between men and women was strictly enforced at polling stations on Saturday.

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Many areas of life remain restricted for Saudi women. Violations of the driving ban, for example, are often met with harsh punishments. In 2011, a woman was sentenced to 10 lashes for driving. The punishment was later overturned after it drew outrage from human rights groups.

Some women said the driving ban was a significant obstacle to the voter registration process. Ahead of the election, some potential female voters alleged that the lack of transport options to the polls, as well as significant bureaucratic hurdles, had hindered their registration process. In the end, women accounted for only 10 percent of registered voters.

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Female candidates were also forbidden from meeting male voters in person during their campaigns. Women accounted for 900 of the 6,440 candidates running for local council seats. Many of the candidates used social media to promote their campaign messages, which included more nurseries to support working mothers, better transport infrastructure, and the creation of youth centers.

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Huda al-Jeraisy, who as the daughter of a former head of the chamber of commerce in the conservative central part of the kingdom was seen by some Saudis as imparting an official stamp of approval on women's candidature, won a seat in Riyadh.

Salma bint Hazab al-Otaibi won a seat in the Madrika district of Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. Lama bint Abdulaziz al-Sulaiman, Rasha Hafza, Sana Abdulatif Abdulwahab al-Hamam, and Massoumeh al-Reda won seats in Jeddah.

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In northern Saudi Arabia, Hanouf bint Mufreh bin Ayad al-Hazimi won a seat in al-Jawf, Mina Salman Saeed al-Omairi and Fadhila Afnan Muslim al-Attawi both won seats in the Northern Borders province.

Two women won seats in al-Ahsa in Eastern Province, but their names were not immediately released. Elsewhere in the province, Khadra al-Mubarak won a seat in Qatif district. In the southern Jazan province, Aisha bint Hamoud Ali Bakri won a seat.

In Qassim, traditionally the most conservative part of the country, two women were elected but their names were not immediately released. Another was elected in al-Babtain district.

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