MC polls close with a voter turnout of 37.42%

MUSCAT: The polling for municipal council elections for the third term which commenced at 7 am today has concluded, with counting underway.

Dr. Shihab bin Ahmed al Jabri, a member of the Main Committee for the Municipal Council Elections, said that the election process is witnessing a good turnout and good numbers have been monitored since the early morning, and a number of inquiries have been received and they have been dealt with easily.

The Ministry of Interior has called on voters and candidates not to gather in public or private places or buildings, and that the application is easy to use and does not require assistance from others.

According to an official, "We received some feedback about the mobile application related to the image mismatch, reading data from the SIM card, and the issue was dealt with immediately. There are several ways to communicate, including via call center and social media."

The Ministry of the Interior said people can view voting statistics and trends on https://result.elections.om and through an election application. The data will be refreshed every hour.

Chairman of the Committee Supervising the Voting System for Elections of Municipal Council Members said, "The voting process is going smoothly whether by the users or the voting system."

As for the latest voter turnout figures at 7 pm, 288,469 eligible voters have cast their votes in the municipal council elections for the third term. The voting percentage is 37.42%, of which 164,109 were males and 124, 360 were females.

Dhofar Governorate is leading with over 30,297 men and 30,382 women casting votes, while in Muscat 15,089 men have cast their votes

A total of 731,767 eligible voters will be using their smartphones to elect 126 members from 727 candidates including 27 women through the 'Intakhib app, designed in accordance with security standards taking into account all the requirements of a secret ballot.

It requires the availability of an Internet-connected phone equipped with the feature of near-field communication (NFC) and a valid ID card. The app can be downloaded from electronic stores for phones with iOS or Android operating systems. The app requires entering a 2-sided copy of the voter’s ID card.

The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Royal Oman Police (ROP), has recently developed voting methods and mechanisms. In the first term of municipal councils elections (2012-2016), voting was done through the ballot boxes while the final sort-out was done electronically which reduced the time needed for counting the votes and expedited the announcement of the final results.

The second term (2017-2022) saw qualitative utilization of technology which became a significant landmark for the elections. Registration in the electoral register and the transfer of registration went electronic and e-voting was adopted in all election centers.

In this third term municipal council elections (2023-2026), the voting process will be done electronically through Intakheb smartphone app which enables the voters to easily cast their ballots online.

As per the statistics of third term municipal elections, MUSCAT GOVERNORATE has 103,949 registered eligible voters, 85 candidates of whom 12 will be elected as members of Muscat Governorate Municipal Council.

DHOFAR GOVERNORATE has 84,818 registered eligible voters, and 145 candidates of whom 20 representatives will be elected.

MUSANDAM GOVERNORATE has 11,864 registered eligible voters, and 22 candidates of whom 8 representatives will be elected.

AL BURAIMI GOVERNORATE has 16,696 registered eligible voters, 20 candidates of whom 6 representatives will be elected to the municipal council.

AL DAKHILIYAH GOVERNORATE has 83,338 registered eligible voters, 85 candidates and of whom 18 will be elected as members of the municipal council.

NORTH AL BATINAH GOVERNORATE has 148,849 registered eligible voters, 97 candidates of whom 12 will be elected as members of the municipal council.

SOUTH AL BATINAH GOVERNORATE has 91,988 registered eligible voters and 49 candidates of whom 10 will be elected to the municipal council.

NORTH AL SHARQIYAH GOVERNORATE has 63,358 registered eligible voters and 45 candidates of whom 14 will make it to the municipal council.

SOUTH AL SHARQIYAH GOVERNORATE has 75,729 registered eligible voters and 61 candidates of whom 10 will be elected as members of the municipal council.

AL DHAHIRAH GOVERNORATE has 38,583 registered eligible voters and 31 candidates of whom 6 will be elected as representatives at the municipal council.

AL WUSTA GOVERNORATE has 12,595 registered eligible voters and 56 candidates of whom 8 will make it to the municipal council.

The municipal council is chaired by the governor of the respective governorate, appointed members, and elected members representing the wilayats of the governorate (each wilayat has 2 representatives) as well as two members who are known for their competence and wise opinion provided that they are not employees at any of the state’s administrative apparatus.

The municipal council provides opinions regarding the development plans and projects within the respective governorate, the performance of the government departments, proposed sites for the development, service, and economic projects as well as the governorates’ needs for public facilities and government services and related projects.

In addition, the municipal council provides recommendations pertaining to public health and proposes public health standards, and take part in deterring the public interest in development projects, urban planning, holding cultural, entertaining, and tourism festivals, and following up on the implementation of the development and service projects. — ONA