Live: Shura polls in Oman; over 65% votes cast

MUSCAT: Omani voters across the country have started casting their votes via the Intakhib app to elect their representatives for the Majls A Shura's 10th term.

496,279 or 65.88 per cent of the total registered voters have voted, which include 258,847 men (66.26%) and 237,432 women (65.48%).

843 candidates, including 32 women, are contesting for 90 seats.

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) clarified that the total number of voters has been revised to 753,260 from 753,573. This is due to the recorded deaths of some voters from the last elections.

International media delegates are covering the Majlis A' Shura election 2024 process, which is a landmark as the entire process has been conducted mobile-based for the first time in the Arab region.

For the first time in the Arab world, Omanis will select their representatives for the Majlis Ash’shura through the AI-enabled Intakhib mobile application.

Intakhib mobile, which was first successfully deployed in the 2022 Municipal Council elections, has been updated with many new features like sign language and audio options making it easier for people who are visually and hearing impaired.

These newly introduced services made available by the Intakhib represent a quantum leap in the election history of the Sultanate of Oman.

13,843 Omanis living abroad cast their vote last Sunday.

During his meeting with the main committee for elections, the Minister of the Interior was briefed on the progress of the process, which began as planned.

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The Ministry of Interior affirmed its full readiness for the administrative, technical, legal, and media aspects related to the elections. Plans and working mechanisms have been laid down in coordination and integration with the relevant authorities.

The Ministry of Interior sent awareness messages to citizens on the importance of voting in the Majlis Ash’shura elections. It said that the procedures have been simplified after the provision of 12 electronic electoral services that include a number of electoral services such as the availability of the initial and final candidate lists, the availability of the initial and final voter lists, checking registration at the electoral register, and following up the automated counting of votes. The application also provides numerical statistics showing the percentage of voting in each wilayat and other e-services.

The Ministry of Interior stated that data and information will be available in a transparent manner through live broadcasts of the indicators and statistics during the voting day, stressing that the electoral process for the 10th term is characterized by accuracy and transparency especially after all electoral services were digitally transformed. The MoI is keen on digitizing all services and programs as part of its digital transformation plan and to realize this objective the ministry utilizes the latest artificial intelligence products to facilitate the electoral process for both voters and candidates.

The tenth term of Majlis Ash’shura will witness further activation and translation of the goals of Oman Vision 2040 at various economic, investment, and development levels and fields as well as the goals of the Tenth Five-Year Development Plan and the charting of the paths of the eleventh five-year plan.

The number of registered voters from Muscat Governorate stands at 97,918 with 93 candidates including 12 women.

The campaign for the election ended on Friday.

The Ministry of Interior 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.

A media center designated for journalists 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 Majlis Ash'shura elections.

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.

Voters from outside Oman expressed their satisfaction with the e-voting process and the ease of using the application which saved their effort and time and praised the Sultanate of Oman’s leadership in utilizing technology in the electoral process.

The application is characterized by an easy and simple user interface and a high level of security using the latest encryption, which makes polling secure and transparent.

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.

The Ministry of Interior stated that data and information will be available in a transparent manner through live broadcasts of the indicators and statistics during the voting day, stressing that the electoral process for the 10th term is characterized by accuracy and transparency especially after all electoral services were digitally transformed.