In 2011, a royal decree permitted women to run and vote for munipal elections beginning December 2015. Registration for voting opened this week in the cities Madinah and Makkah. Registration in the rest of the country will open next week. Arab News reports that 70 women have indicated their intention to run for municipal office, while another 80 have registered as campaign managers.
Jamal Al-Saadi and Safinaz Abu Al-Shamat, from the cities of Madinah and Makkah, both registered to vote in the upcoming municpal elections, to be held in December. Al-Saadi told the Saudi Gazette: “The participation of the Saudi women in the municipal elections as voters and candidates was a dream for us. The move will enable Saudi women to have a say in the process of the decision-making.”
Giving women the right to vote is a truimph for women's rights in Saudia Arabia, but there is still a lot of work to be done to address gender inequality in the country. While the new law does reflect marginal progess, the country still remains one of the worst places to live if you're a woman. Let's not forget that women are still not permitted to drive cars, which can adversely effect a woman's ability to go out and vote even if she wanted to.
Here are some things that women in the Muslim kingdom are unable to do.
1. Drive a car
2. Go anywhere without a male chaperone
3. Go for a swim
4. Wear clothes or make-up that "show off their beauty"
5. Enter a cemetery
6. Read an unrestricted fashion magazine
7. Participate freely in sports
8. Have their own bank account
