All 752 election centers across the Kingdom are ready for the Municipal Council election voting day, Abdul Rahman Bin Muhammad Al-Dahmash, Chairman of the General Committee for Municipal Elections, announced Friday. He said voting to elect Municipal Council members in all regions of the Kingdom will begin at 8.00 A.M. and end at 5.00 P.M. Thursday (Sept. 29). The final lists of candidates will be announced Saturday (Sept. 17), and on Sunday (Sept. 18) the 11-day electioneering will begin. Al-Dahmash said that the General Committee has coordinated with regions' local committees to outline the voting day program according to a specific schedule and deadline. “The voting stage is the most important in the election process because the two stages for registration of voters and candidates are the preparatory ones,” Al-Dahmash said. Registration in the voters' list is mandatory for participating in the elections. Preparations for the second Municipal Council elections, which started more than a year ago, included specifying the election centers, selecting and training the centers' employees, coordinators and liaison officers in the local supervisory committees, printing leaflets and organizational and procedural guidebooks and the forms to be used in the election process. Preparations also included readying a database for voters and a website ( HYPERLINK “http://www.intekhab.gov.sa” www.intekhab.gov.sa). The formation of Municipal Councils meets the citizens' needs, upgrades the standard of municipal services and improves the performance of municipalities, he said. The Municipal Councils give the citizens the opportunity to participate in decision-making by selecting qualified and experienced citizens to manage local affairs and municipal services.
