Elections in Saudi Arabia are held infrequently. Municipal elections were last held in 2015, the first time women had the right to vote and stand as candidates.[1]
In 2005, elections for half of the municipal councilors were held, with men aged over 21 voting for male candidates. In May 2009, elections scheduled for October were postponed so authorities could consider expanding those eligible to vote, including women.[3] Women were not granted franchise until after the 2011 elections, which drew condemnation from Human Rights Watch; some female activists planned 'parallel' municipal councils following the vote.[4][5][6]
Arguments against female suffrage were that not enough women would be available to staff female polling stations (gender segregation is normal in the country) and that only a small number of women held ID cards, which would be required in order for them to vote.[8]Amnesty International called King Abdullah's 2011 announcement women could stand for election and vote from 2012 "a welcome, albeit limited, step along the long road towards gender equality in Saudi Arabia, and a testament to the long struggle of women's rights activists there".[9]
^Mattheisen, Toby (2015). "Centre –Periphery Relations and the Emergence of a Public Sphere in Saudi Arabia: The Municipal Elections in the Eastern Province, 1954 – 1960". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 42 (3): 320–338. doi:10.1080/13530194.2014.947242. S2CID143821878.
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