Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mitib Bin Abdul has endorsed the municipal elections law.
Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Prince Mitib Bin Abdul has endorsed the municipal elections law.
CHAPTER 1: DEFINITIONS
ARTICLE 1:
The following terms in this law refer to the meanings next to each of them respectively, unless the context points otherwise:
1. The Ministry: The Ministry of Municipal and Rural
Affairs.
2. Ministerial Decision: A decision made by the Minister
of Municipal and Rural Affairs.
3. Municipality: A Municipality or a group of villages
enjoying financial and administrative independence
and is officially recognized.
4. District : The administrative area outlined by the
regions law and its executive sheet.
5. Municipal zone: The geographical boundaries within
which the council has authority over the municipality
to which the council belongs.
6. Voter: every citizen who meets the conditions of
voting as stipulated in article three of this law and
whose name appears in the voters lists.
7. Candidate: Every voter who meets the conditions to
run for a seat on the council and whose name appears
in the voters lists.
8. Constituency: A geographical zone determined by a
ministerial decision and in which elections are held.
9. Voters list: A list of eligible voters who meet the
conditions stipulated in this law.
10.Candidates list: A list that carries the names of
candidates for seats on municipal councils in a single
constituency.
11.General elections committee: A committee that is
responsible for supervising elections in the Kingdom
at large.
12.Local supervisory committee: A committee
responsible for supervising elections in every region in
the Kingdom.
13.Voters list committee: A committee responsible for
supervising the lists of voters who meet the conditions
stipulated in this law in the first munisicpal elections;
it will also be responsible for reviewing these lists in
subsequent elections and delete the names of those
who are dead by then or those who no longer meet any
of these conditions.
14.Voting and counting committee: A committee
responsible for registering voters, conducting voting,
counting votes and writing the appropriate reports on
the results within their municipal zones.
15.Contestations and complaints committee: A committee
responsible for looking into, investigating and
handling contestations and complaints presented by
voters and candidates.
16.Voting card: A card on which voters write down the
names of their candidates according to the number of
seats in every constituency.
17.Voting: The process of submitting votes by voters to
choose candidates for membership in a municipal
council on a set date.
18.Voting date: A date set for the voting process to take
place.
Chapter two: Gereral guidelines
The voting date is predetermined by a ministerial decision at least 90 days before the intended date for voting. The decision must be published in the official newsletter and at least four daily newspapers, as well as the headquarters of constituencies.
ARTICLE 3:
Every citizen enjoys the right to vote if he meets the following conditions:
1. To be at least 21 year of age according to hijri dates.
2. Not to be an operative military officer
3. To be living within the municipal zones for at least 12
months before the voting date. If he has addresses in
more than one municipal zone, he must chose only one
of them.
Chapter three: Constituencies and committees
Constituencies are determined after the end of the registration of voters in the first municipal elections; in subsequent elections, they are determined at least 60 days prior to the voting date. A ministerial decision determines the zone of every constituency and is published in the official newsletter and at least four daily newspapers.
ARTICLE 5:
In every voting period, a general committee for municipal elections is created under the name General elections committee, which will supervise the work of election committees. The decision determines its tasks and authorities.
ARTICLE 6:
One or more committees are created by a ministerial decision in each constituency under the name Local supervisory committee, which answers to the committee outlined in the article five; these committees supervise municipal elections in their zones, and the decision determines their tasks and authorities.
ARTICLE 7:
One or more committees are created by a ministerial decision in each constituency under the name Voters lists committee to supervise the lists of voters who meet the conditions stipulated in this law within their constituencies. Each committee must have at least four (4) members, including the president.
ARTICLE 8:
One or more committees are created by a ministerial decision in each constituency under the name Voting and counting committee which will supervise the registration of voters, the voting process and the counting of votes within its constituency. Each committee must comprise at least five (5) members headed by a Shariah or judicial advisor. The president of each committee appoints a secretary who will write down its decisions and edit its meeting minutes, which will be signed by the president and all the members of the committee.
Chapter four: Voters lists
In subsequent elections to the first municipal elections, the committees mentioned in article seven will review voters lists, add names of new voters who meet the conditions in article three, and delete the names of those who die or no longer meet any of these conditions.
ARTICLE 10:
The voters list committee issues a report of ending the registration of voters in the first municipal elections or ending the reviews of voters lists in subsequent municipal elections, signed by the president of the committee and all of its members, with the voters list attached. The report and the attached lists are then delivered to the Ministry and the committee maintains a copy of each in the headquarters of constituencies at least 30 days before the voting date.
ARTICLE 11:
The name of a voter must not appear more than once in voters lists. Anyone whose name appears in the voters lists has the right to vote.
Chapter five: Candidates lists
Each person whose name appears on voters lists and meets the conditions for membership outlined by the law has the right to run for candidacy within five days after the publication of the voters lists. The application for candidacy must be submitted in writing to the voting and counting committee according to form devised by the ministry for that purpose. Applications are registered in a special record according to the dates on which they had been submitted, a list of candidates is issued for every constituency and published in the headquarters of constituencies at least 25 days before the voting date. No one has the right to run for candidacy in more than one constituency.
ARTICLE 13:
Every candidate has the right to choose one voter to be his representative at the voting and counting committee. The candidate must submit the name of his representative in writing at lease three (3) days before the voting date.
ARTICLE 14:
Every candidate has the right to renounce his candidacy. The renouncement must be submitted in writing to the voting and counting committee within five (5) days after the date of publication of the voters lists.
1. voters select their candidates for membership of
municipal councils on the voting date.
2. election is by secret voting, and no voter can select a
greater number of candidates than the number of
members to be elected in each constituency.
ARTICLE 16:
Every voter is given a voting card after the verification of his identity. The voter must then go to the venue of voting inside the voting hall, write down the names of his chosen candidates and deposit the card in the ballot box. A voter who is unable to write down the names of his candidates may mention them verbally only to the members of the committee; his selections are then written down on his voting card, which is then deposited for him in the ballot box.
ARTICLE 17:
Every voter must practice his voting right by himself. Any voter who is unable to physically appear at the voting place because a physical disability may delegate another person of his choice to represent him there, according to a special document of delegation endorsed by the voting and counting committee, based on an official document that proves the voter s physical disability. No one has the right to represent more than one voter.
ARTICLE 18:
Before the voting process begins, the president of the voting and counting committee must open ballot boxes and show them to all those present at the voting venue for them to be sure that they are empty. He must them close and seal the ballot boxes in their presence, and then he and all the members of the committee must put their signatures on the boxes.
ARTICLE 19:
With regard to article 20 (below) of this law, the voting process begins at
In any case, the actual times of the beginning and the end of the voting process must be documented in a report signed by the president of the voting and counting committee and all of its members.
ARTICLE 20:
The voting process in the zone of any municipal council is halted and all the candidates are declared winners by default in any of the following cases:
1. If the number of candidates is less than the number of
members required fill the seats in the municipal
council. In this case, a ministerial decision appoints the
remainder of members to fulfill the required number.
2. if the number of candidates is equal to the number of
members required to fill the seats in the municipal
council.
In both cases, a report to this effect must be issued by the voting and counting committee for that constituency, signed by the committee s president and all of its members.
ARTICLE 21:
Null and void are all voting cards that carry names to which stipulations are attached, or on which a voter had written a greater number of candidates than the number required to be voted in a given constituency, or those that carry any marks that reveal the voter s identity explicitly or implicitly, as well as votes which are written on papers other than official voting cards.
ARTCLE 22:
1.The voting and counting committee counts the votes.
Candidates or their representatives have the right to
attend the counting process.
2. the voting and counting committee issues a report in
which it documents the names of each candidates and
the numbers of votes they received, as well as those
who won membership of the council because they
received more votes than others. The report must be
signed by the president of the committee and all of its
members, then sent to the ministry along with all
voting cards to finalize procedures.
3. If several candidates receive the same number of votes
while only some of them must be elected to the council,
the president of the committee must conduct a ballot
among them, either in their presence or in the presence
of their representatives, within three (3) days of the
conclusion of counting the votes. The candidate who
wins the ballot is declared winner.
ARTICLE 23:
The names of winning candidates must be published in the official newsletter and at least four (4) local daily newspapers, as well as in the voting venues immediately after the results appear.
Chapter seven: Contestations and grievances:
One or more committees in each of the Kingdom s provinces is formed under the name Contestations and grievances committee, comprising three members headed by a Shariah or judicial advisor. A ministerial decision determines the names of the committee s members at least 30 days before the voting date.
ARTICLE 25:
The committee outlined in the previous article specializes in looking into, investigating and ruling in the contestations and grievances submitted by voters and candidates. All the concerned parties must be heard, and the committee s decisions are final and causative, and its decisions are issued according to majority. The committee must look into all grievances and contestations within five (5) days of submission. The committee has the right to exclude any voter or candidate and to nullify the victory of any candidate, as well as the right to repeat the voting process in its constituency if necessary.
ARTICLE 26:
Every voter or candidate has the right to file a grievance to the contestations and grievances committee against decisions by voters list committees and voting and counting committees concerning him within three (3) days of those decisions being made. A voter or candidate has the right to contest the inclusion of any name that appears on voters lists or candidates lists in his constituency either because the person he contests does not fulfill the conditions or because he did not adhere to the regulations in this law, within three (3) days of the publication of the contested list. The contestation must be submitted in writing to the president of the contestations and grievances committee, and must include the reason for contestation.
ARTICLE 27:
Any voter or candidate has the right to request the annulment of the election of any candidate within five (5) days after the publication of the names of winning candidates. The request must be submitted in writing to the president of the contestations and grievances committee, including the legal basis for the contestation.
Chapter eight: additional rules
The ministry devises unified forms for the registration of voters, the registration of candidates, voting cards, contestation and grievance forms, and applications of renouncement of candidacy. These forms include the necessary information for their purpose.
ARTICLE 29:
It is forbidden to compromise general orderliness, violate social traditions, instigate sedition or any sectarian, tribal or regional disputes, abuse any and all voters and candidates either implicitly or explicitly.
It is forbidden to use mosques, public facilities and similar venues for the purpose of campaigning.
A ministerial decision will outline the guidelines of organizing electoral campaigns.
ARTICLE 30:
The president of every committee is responsible for maintaining order at the venues of voters list committees and voting and counting committees. He may enlist policemen for that purpose.
ARTICLE 31:
With regard to specialties, the ministry coordinates with the Ministry of Interior during all the stages of the voting process, including halting the process whenever necessary.
ARTICLE 32:
This law must be published in the official newsletter, and is effective as of the date of publication.
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