Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs reported low turn out among Saudi women voters and candidates for the City Council Elections in Makkah and Madinah. The ministry reported the number of Saudi women voters in Madinah registering till date was only five. Their age ranged from 25 to 55 years old. The ministry reported due to the small number of voters showing up to register, it was obliged to close down one of the women election centers on the first day of the third phase of the municipal election campaign. The ministry also reported there were only seven women voters to have completed registration formalities in Makkah on the first day of elections. The Baladi Initiative General Coordinator Hatoun Al-Fasi said the reason for the low turn out in these two cities is not necessarily a rejection of Saudi women from participating in the elections. “Saudi women in Makkah and Madinah face a number of obstacles. The beginning of the voting period started at the end of the summer holiday. Many have work to attend,” said Al-Fasi. She added the ministry did not care to campaign about the election and hold introductory workshops in order for the women in these cities to be aware of the elections and the procedures. “The preparation the ministry has done has been the opening and equipping the election centers. They have failed dearly in reaching out to the community and marketing the elections to them,” said Al-Fasi. She also said elections are a new phenomenon for the Saudi society and the organizers must be patient about people participation in the elections. “Baladi has had a plan to hold several workshops to educate the people about the culture of elections. However, the ministry has stopped us from holding these workshops as they wanted the election program to be more unified and centralized,” said Al-Fasi. She also said the ministry did not have an alternative when it stopped the activities and plans that Baladi had. “The ministry's only media of marketing is the online platform and it is not enough. There has been hardly any visibility of the elections campaign in shopping centers, schools, universities and other places where Saudi women frequent and work in,” said Al-Fasi. She added the Baladi Initiative has been most active in Jeddah and she hopes the number of women voters and candidates registering will be higher once the third phase begins on Saturday, Aug. 22.
