Doha: Qatari voters will head to the polls today to choose their representatives in the 7th Central Municipal Council, the last stage of the implementation of the electoral process.
According to final candidates’ lists, 102 candidates, including four women, are competing in these elections in 27 constituencies out of 29, after two constituencies were decided by acclamation, namely 27 and 28.
The polling stations are scheduled to open their doors at 8am today to receive male and female voters. The polling process will continue until 5pm, followed by the process of vote counting and the announcement of the winners of the elections. The first municipal elections in Qatar were held in 1999 and they continued for six previous sessions.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) yesterday urged citizens to exercise their voting rights.
“In accordance with the provisions of Decree No. (17) of 1998 regulating the election of members of the Central Municipal Council, Decree No. (28) of 2023 setting the date for the election of members of the CMC, and Resolution No. (51) of 2014 determining the electoral districts of the CMC elections, the Ministry of Interior calls on voters to exercise their right to elect members of the CMC on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at the electoral district headquarters from 8am to 5pm,” the MoI said in a statement.
According to the MoI statement, the winner in the election is the candidate who obtains the largest number of valid votes. If the votes are equal among more than one candidate, the committee votes among them in their presence or in the presence of their representative whenever possible.
The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for announcing the general results of the elections.
The Ministry noted the importance of everyone’s participation in the success of these elections indicating the steps that must be followed during the voting process: voter must be present in person at the headquarters of the electoral district to which he belong; presents the ID card; then receives the election card and goes to the designated platform to make his choice in total privacy.
Each voter can choose one candidate only by ticking in front of the name of the candidate he wants to elect.
Then, the election paper is folded and put in the ballot box. The election must be done by a secret ballot and it is prohibited to declare the name of the candidate, the statement added.
According to the steps specified in the statement, the voter who is unable to vote through the election card by himself may express his vote in a secretive and appropriate manner to the members of the committee.
Accordingly, the chairman of the committee undertakes to prove the voter’s choice on the card.
The statement stressed the prohibition of practicing various forms of electoral propaganda inside or outside the headquarters of the electoral districts; noting that the election committees will start counting the votes and announcing the results after the end of the voting process.
