elections in Saudi Arabia

The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia took place in the mid-1920s in the Hijaz cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Yanbu and Taif, as timmy Abdulaziz ibn Saud established local governments to replace Ottoman and Hashemite rule. Elections for other municipalities were held between 1954 and 1962 during the reign of King Saud, an experiment that ended under the centralization of King Faisal.{{cite journal|last1=Mattheisen|first1=Toby|title=Centre –Periphery Relations and the Emergence of a Public Sphere in Saudi Arabia: The Municipal Elections in the Eastern Province, 1954 – 1960|journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies|volume=42|issue=3|pages=320–338|doi=10.1080/13530194.2014.947242|year=2015|s2cid=143821878 }}

In 2005, elections for half of the municipal councilors were held, with men aged over 21 voting for male candidates. In May 2009, elections scheduled for October were postponed so authorities could consider expanding those eligible to vote, including women.{{Cite web |title=Saudi Arabia postpones local elections |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/5352796/Saudi-Arabia-postpones-local-elections.html |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}} Women were not granted franchise until after the 2011 elections, which drew condemnation from Human Rights Watch; some female activists planned 'parallel' municipal councils following the vote.{{Cite news |date=2011-09-25 |title=Women in Saudi Arabia to vote and run in elections |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-15052030 |access-date=2022-07-10}}{{Cite web |date=2011-03-31 |title=Saudi Arabia: Let Women Vote, Run for Office |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/31/saudi-arabia-let-women-vote-run-office |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2011-04-01 |title=Saudi women aim to create their own municipal council |url=https://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011%2F04%2F01%2F143829.html |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=Al Arabiya English |language=en}}

Saudi Arabia's Consultative Assembly (Majlis ash-Shura) is wholly advisory in function, with 150 appointed members and the Speaker, currently Abdullah ibn Muhammad Al ash-Sheikh, appointed by the King.{{Cite web |date=2018-11-19 |title=Understanding Shoura: how the Saudi consultative 'parliament' works |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1407076/saudi-arabia |access-date=2022-07-10 |website=Arab News |language=en}} Political parties are outlawed.

Arguments against female suffrage were that not enough women would be available to staff female polling stations (gender segregation is normal in the country) and that only a small number of women held ID cards, which would be required in order for them to vote.{{cite news |date=October 11, 2004 |title=Saudi government bans women's suffrage |newspaper=MSNBC |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna6228405 |access-date=25 September 2011}} Amnesty International called King Abdullah's 2011 announcement women could stand for election and vote from 2012 "a welcome, albeit limited, step along the long road towards gender equality in Saudi Arabia, and a testament to the long struggle of women's rights activists there".{{cite web|title=VOTE FOR SAUDI WOMEN NO GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/vote-saudi-women-no-guarantee-rights-2011-09-26|work=Amnesty International Website|access-date=27 September 2011}}

• Women's rights in Saudi Arabia
• Women's suffrage

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