KUWAIT: Voters headed to the polls on Saturday to cast ballots for municipal by-elections. The voting began as scheduled at 8 am for electing two members of the Municipal Council for the 13th legislative term. Ten nominees contested the vacant seat in the sixth constituency and eight for the seat in the 9th district.

Polling was held with 194 electoral committees hosted by 26 schools, against the backdrop of a declaration by the Municipal Council on April 22 declaring vacancy of the two seats that had been occupied by the former members Nasser Al-Kafif and Fehaid Al-Muwaizri. The interior ministry had announced that voters should present the original identity certificate and declared a hotline (1889888) for any inquiry or help throughout the process.

It added information about voting stations and registration are available on the government electronic app Sahel. According to the statement, a candidate must be a Kuwaiti citizen according to Amiri Decree 15 (1959) regarding the nationality law, along with amended legislations. The nominee’s name must be included in the electoral lists, must have mastery of the Arabic language, and not be younger than 30, with no criminal records.

The two municipal seats had been declared vacant after the ministry of justice and the ministry of interior addressed reports to the minister of state for municipal affairs with respect to affirming that a verdict had been issued against Kafif and Muwaizri had registered as a candidate for the 2024 parliamentary elections. — KUNA