At least 17 women have been elected to public office in Saudi Arabia, according to preliminary results published in state media Monday. Saturday's historic elections for municipal councils marked the first time women in the country were allowed to vote and to run for office.
The female winners include Salma al-Oteibi in the Mecca region, Lama al-Suleiman and Rasha Hufaithi in Jeddah, Hanouf al-Hazimi in Al Jouf province, and Sanaa al-Hammam and Masoumah Abdelreda in the Ahsa region.
Despite the new rights extended to women, critics have said restrictions made it hard on women who wanted to run for office and vote.
Among other things, women complained of difficulties proving identity and residency and a limited number of registration centers, according to Human Rights Watch.
Female candidates also were barred from speaking to male voters and required to segregate campaign offices, the organization said.
In the end, 979 women candidates and 130,637 women voters registered to participate in the election, according to Saudi election officials. A total of 5,938 men ran for the local offices, which mostly oversee planning and development issues.
Voters will fill half of the seats. The King selects the other half, according to the U.S. State Department.
CNN
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