Shura Council election polling starts with huge voter turnout

Voting for the first phase of the Shura Council elections started at 30 electoral districts on  Saturday morning. In various regions of the country, voting booths started to mark Qataris turning up to elect Shura representatives while casting their votes. The polling stations recorded huge voters turnout in the initial phase of voting. 

The first vote was cast at 8 am at the polling stations where all arrangements were made by the Ministry of Interior to host the electoral process early in the morning on Monday. Officials were deployed at the centres with all arrangements including refreshments and seating facilities in place. 

Spread over various locations in Doha, Al Rayyan, Al Wakra, Al Shamal and Al Khor, voting is held at 30 centres in total. 

Separate booths have been set up for men and women who enter the first counter from where they are taken to the polling booth after the registration and verification processes are completed. Senior citizens and people with special needs are given assistance to complete the proceedings and enter the counters. 

At voting stations, voters adhere to strict Covid-19 precautionary measures while maintaining social distance, wearing masks and using sanitizer. Also, voters are told to show Ehteraz upon entering the first counter. In order to ensure the smooth functioning of the process, volunteers of the Qatar Red Crescent Society along with Al Faaza and police personnel have been deployed. 

The polling stations open their doors to voters until 6pm. There are 252 candidates, including 27 women, are competing to win two-thirds (30 seats) of the 45-seat Shura Council, while the other 15 members will be appointed as stipulated in the Qatari Constitution.

Candidates who gain the relative majority of eligible votes will be elected to the Shura Council, and in the case when two or more candidates have an equal number of votes, the head of the electoral committee could then cast his vote to decide the winner. The election that's seen as a major milestone in the country's history, Qataris elect 30 members out of the 45 Shura Council members in the secret ballot while HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani appointing the remaining 15.