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The Wilayas of the Sultanate of Oman are expected to elect on 27 October 2007 from the candidates a total of 82 members for a three-year term for the sixth term which extends from 2008 until 2011. With the approaching date of the elections, the Ministry of Interior and the election committees introduced preparatory measures, such as using automatic vote counting in the process of the counting of votes when the elections are over and to intensify the seminars held to stress the importance of these elections. New indicators were apparent in the month of September, such as the numbers of candidates and voters and the electoral centers.
The number of the candidates:
The number of candidates who wanted to run for the sixth session of the Omani Shura Council 2008 -2011 reached 880 candidates, including 25 women from the various Wilayas of the Sultanate of Oman, This number is bigger than the candidates for the current fifth term which expires this year whether as regards the men or women candidates who by and large totaled 600. The main committee of the elections is currently sorting the applications of the 900 candidates, i.e. the electoral committees reviewing these applications and determining whether they fulfill the conditions stated in Article 22 of the Regulations of the Council of State and the Shura Council issued by a Sultani decree number 86/97.
Measures preparing for elections:
1- The program of automatic vote counting: The main committee of the Shura Council elections has accredited the program for automatic vote counting in the Wilayas of the Sultanate.
2- On the day of voting outside the Sultanate: The day of voting at the embassies of the sultanate abroad will be on 20 October. The same measures applied at home will be applied in these embassies. The votes which each candidate was given at the embassy ballot boxes will be added to the votes he will be given at his own Wilaya, and the result would be announced only once.
3- Conditions which should be met by the voters: The Interior Ministry has spelled out the following conditions which should be met by the voters:
A- The voter should be above 21 years old.
B- He should not be a member of any military or security party.
C- He should be a resident of the Wilaya in which he will cast his vote or he should have transferred his election record to the Wilaya in which he will cast his vote.
4- Training: The members of the electoral committees who will work at the election centers shall be trained on election day on the legal and technical aspects of elections and the techniques followed in the electoral process. Each member may work at a Wilaya other than the Wilaya to which he belongs or the wilaya in which he resides.
5- Educational seminars: The election committee has held numerous educational seminars in all the wilays of the Sultanate on the measures and steps that should be taken in the electoral process of the Shura Council with the aim of educating the residents of the need to vote for their candidates and to register their names in the electoral register at the due time. |
