RIYADH/BAHA: Municipal elections will be held on Sept. 22 and results will be announced two days later, a Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs official said. Primary electoral lists will be announced on June 3 and people will have three days to submit objections, if any; primary electoral lists with announcements of candidates withdrawing their candidature will be issued on June 17; final electoral lists will be announced on July 18; final candidate lists will be announced on Sept. 10; the start of election campaigns is on Sept. 11, for a period of 11 days; voting will take place on Sept. 22; and results will be announced on Sept. 24, the official said. New amendments to election rules state that each voter will vote only for candidates inside the electoral district he lives in, the official added. Registration of voters and candidates, campaigns and vote-counting will be carried out simultaneously in all regions, and the minimum number of members at each municipal council has been increased from four to six, the official said. “The number of municipal councils was raised from 179 to 285 and voting centers from 631 to 855,” he added. The increase in the number of councils was due to the fact that rural centers are now considered to be municipalities, the official said, adding that local election committees were given more authority in terms of organizing and managing elections in their regions. Preparations for municipal elections started a year ago with the selection of voting centers and training local committees' coordinators and communication officers. Voter registration starts April 22, for a period of 27 days, and candidate registration starts May 28, and will continue for a period of six days.
