Saturday 12 December 2015

WOMEN IN SAUDI ARABIA VOTING FOR THE FIRST TIME



It is history today as Saudi  women are allowed to cast a ballot for the first time.
Women are also standing as candidates, another first, despite the conservative kingdom being the only nation where women are not allowed to drive.

A total of 978 women have registered as candidates, alongside 5,938 men.
Female candidates have had to speak behind a partition during campaign appearances or be represented by a man.
About 130,000 women have registered to vote, officials say. That figure still falls well short of male voter registration, which stands at 1.35 million.

Salma al-Rashed was the first woman to register to vote. "It felt really good," she told the BBC. "Change is a big word but the election is the way to make sure we are really represented."



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