Muscat: All eligible citizens of the Sultanate of Oman will vote for Majlis A's Shura elections on Sunday, October 29 with the last day of the campaign being on Friday.
The voting will commence at 8 am and conclude at 7 p.m.
A total of 753,690 (male and female) voters are among the final list of voters to elect the members of the Shura Council for the tenth term. while 738 candidates are in the fray, including 31 women.
Article (35) of the Law on Election of Members of Majlis A'Shura issued by Royal Decree 54/2023 states that every candidate may carry out electoral propaganda to introduce himself, from the date of announcing the final lists of candidates until the day before the voting day.
The Ministry of Interior (MOI) has called on all candidates to remove all billboards that were installed during the electoral propaganda period in accordance with the pledge and written acknowledgment.
Omanis will vote on Sunday October 29 to elect candidates for the 10th term of Majlis Ash’shura.#Oman #MajlisAshshura pic.twitter.com/2Wc9oA2lgB
— Oman Observer (@OmanObserver) October 26, 2023
A media center designated for journalists covering the Majlis A' Shura elections for the tenth term will be opened at the Muscat Intercontinental Hotel, which has been equipped with various facilities.
More than 50 journalists from outside the Sultanate of Oman have been invited to participate in reporting, covering, and recording the proceedings of the elections for the tenth term.
The number of new voters registered through the Intikhab application amounts to 91 percent compared with 9 percent of voters who registered via the election website.
As many as 13,8 Omanis cast their votes to elect members of Majlis Ash’shura, on Sunday.
Dr Zayed Zabanout, Cultural Attaché at the Sultanate of Oman’s embassy in Washington said that all the Omani students in the United States of America (USA) and Canada were notified about the date of voting and the method of e-voting via Intakhib application.
Votes expressed their satisfaction over the e-voting process and the ease of using the application which saved their effort and time and reflected the Sultanate of Oman’s leadership in utilizing technology in the electoral process.
As per the new schedule for the Majlis A’Shura elections on October 29, the number of representatives will be increased by two in the wilayats of Bidbid and Ibra, with one new member added to the wilayats of Jabal Akhdar and Sinaw.
Wilayats represented by one member in the Shura Council are Muscat, Taqah, Mirbat, Rakhyut, Thumrait, Dhalkut, Al-Mazyouna, Muqshin, Shalim, Al-Halaniyat Islands, Sadah, Khasab, Dibba, Bukha, Madha, Mahdha, Al-Sunaina, Manah, Al-Hamra, Adam, Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Al-Awabi, Nakhal, Wadi Al-Ma’awal, Al-Kamil, Al-Wafi, Masirah, Bidiya, Al-Qabil, Wadi Bani Khalid, Dima, Al-Ta’iyin, Sinaw, Yanqul, Dank, Haima, Mahut, Duqm, and Al-Jazar.
Wilayats represented by two members of the Shura Council are Muttrah, Al-Amerat, Bawshar, Seeb, Qurayyat, Salalah, Buraimi, Nizwa, Bahla, Izki, Samail, Bidbid, Sohar, Shinas, Liwa, Saham, Al-Khaboura, Al-Suwaiq, Rustaq, Barka, Al-Musanah, Sour, Jalan Bani Bu Hassan, Jalan Bani Bu Ali, Ibra, Al-Mudhaibi and Ibri.
Mobile Voting
The Ministry of Interior stated that the current electoral process is witnessing a tangible qualitative shift in the electoral process, with the launch of the second version of the ‘Intakhib’ application.
New improvements and updates have been made to the voting application, such as the audio reading feature for people with visual disabilities – through voice guidance for all stages of voting and candidate selection, and the sign language feature, which will be optionally available to people with hearing disabilities.
The application is characterized by an easy and simple user interface and a high level of security using the latest technologies in the field of encryption.
The voter’s data will be verified in three basic steps, which are photographing the original ID card, reading the personal card data via the NFC feature, and taking a personal photo of the voter.
Voting takes place in easy and simple steps, where the voter takes a photo of the ID card from both sides and then places the original chip of the card next to the phone to read the data.
Then the voter takes a personal photo of himself, after which a list of photos of the candidates will appear to vote for their favorite candidate, followed by a confirmation button.
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