Participation is pale during historic election for Saudi women

Hundreds of Saudi Arabian women ran for local public office and thousands cast ballots for the first time in an historic election Saturday in the ultra-conservative Islamic nation where women are still prohibited from driving cars.

"I have goosebumps," businesswoman Ghada Ghazzawi told The Wall Street Journal as she entered a polling station in the city of Jeddah. "We have been waiting for this day for a long time."

The numbers of women participating in the municipal election process paled by comparison with men and doubts ran high that any woman would be elected in the results expected Sunday. But those who participated saw it as an important first step. The only elections held under the monarchy are for local councils that approve budgets and provide oversight of urban development.

The election Saturday was only the third round of voting in the country since 2005 and only men were previously allowed to participate. More than 6,000 men and around 980 women are running as candidates for the local council seats. Some 2,100 elected seats are being contested and out of 6,900 candidates,only about 980 women.

Overall voter participation remains small, even among men,

Saturday, the women cast ballots in polling stations separate from those for men, and women had to be driven to the sites.

"As a first step it is a great achievement. Now we feel we are part of society, that we contribute," Sara Ahmed, 30, a physiotherapist,told Reuters."It's an historic day for us."

About 130,000 women have registered to vote, compared with 1.35 million men. However, there are at least 5 million eligible voters in Saudi Arabia, according to Associated Press.

Saudi women still assigned male 'guardians'

Campaigning was difficult for female candidates who were required to address voters from behind partitions during appearances or have a man speak on their behalf, according to the BBC

King Abdullah, who died in January, decreed in 2011 that women would be allowed to vote. He also appointed women to serve on an advisory panel that has legislative powers. The new voting freedom was a departure in a country where women must obtain permission from male relatives to marry, attend higher education or travel abroad.  

"I don't consider winning (in Saturday's election) to be the ultimate goal ... but it is the right of being a citizen that I concentrate on and I consider this a turning point,"  Hatoon Al-Fassi, told AP. She is general coordinator for the grassroots Saudi Baladi Initiative that worked to raise voter awareness for women. "We are looking at it as an opportunity to exercise our right and to push for more," she said.