Bahrainis vote in parliamentary, municipal elections

Manama: Polling stations across Bahrain opened on Saturday at 8am for the 2018 parliamentary elections. The polling stations remained open until 8pm for 365,467 eligible voters to cast their ballots in the fifth quadrennial parliamentary and municipal elections since 2002.
Voters will elect 40 members of the Council of Representatives and 30 members of the municipal councils for 2018-2022 term.
They cast their ballots in polling stations across 40 constituencies and in the 14 general polling centres spread across the kingdom.
The number of women contesting the parliament seats in 2014 was 22, but it went up to 47 this year. Bahrain News Agency (BHA) reported that polling stations across four governorates witnessed a massive turnout.
Justice, Islamic Affairs and Endowments Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali Al Khalifa warned those spreading fake news telling voters that their names have been deleted from the voters’ list and asking voters not to report to the polling station.
Al Khalifa told the media on Friday that the Bahraini judiciary constituted a basic guarantee for the fairness and impartiality of the municipal and parliamentary elections, noting that a large turnout in the electoral process was expected.
The minister pointed out that a total of 430 candidates, the highest since 2002, are running for elections, noting that 41 women are running for parliamentary seats, six women are running for municipal council seats, and seven political societies are participating in the elections.
He said that a total of 365,467 citizens were eligible to vote in the elections, including more than 50,000 male and female youths who voted for the first time, noting that personal messages had been sent to youth voters, given the fact that the youth are the pillar of the nation. Some 120 media persons are participating from outside Bahrain, and the representatives of 80 Arab and foreign news agencies, newspapers and television channels to cover Bahrain’s parliament elections.
This is the fifth time since the promulgation of the new constitution in 2002 that elections are being held.
To run for the parliament election, a candidate must be a Bahraini national who must be registered in his or her constituency, be at least 30 years old and able to read and write Arabic.
At least 231 observers to monitor the polls were from the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) and four NOGOs - Bahrain Transparency Association (BTA), Bahraini Jurists Society (BJS), Bahrain Public Relations Association (BPRA), and Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS).