General elections were held in

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

in November and December 2018 to elect the 40 members of the

Council of Representatives The Council of Representatives (''Majlis an-nuwab''), sometimes translated as the "Chamber of Deputies", is the name given to the lower house of the Bahraini National Assembly, the national legislative body of Bahrain. The council was created ...

. The first round of voting was on Saturday, 24 November, with a second round in 31 constituencies on Saturday, 1 December.Bahrain announces election results as palace prepares for visit from Saudi crown prince
The National, 25 November 2018 A municipal poll coincided with the parliamentary vote. The elections were considered to be a sham, as they followed a government crackdown on dissent that included prohibiting members of dissolved opposition groups from running. Following the

2011 Bahraini protests The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and prote ...

, all 18 Al Wefaq members on the Council resigned, and were barred from contesting the subsequent by-elections. Since 2011, authorities have imprisoned hundreds of dissidents, including Al Wefaq leader Sheikh Ali Salman, and stripped many of Bahraini citizenship. Al Wefaq boycotted the

2014 Bahraini general election General elections were held in Bahrain in November 2014 to elect the forty members of the Council of Representatives. The first round of voting took place on 22 November, with a second round on 29 November in the 34 constituencies in which no can ...

. The two main opposition groups, the Shiite

Al-Wefaq Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society ( ar, جمعية الوفاق الوطني الإسلامية; ), sometimes shortened to simply Al-Wefaq, was a Shi'a Bahraini political party, that operates clandestinely after being ordered by the highest cou ...

and secular Waad, were barred from fielding candidates in 2018, prompting renewed calls for a boycott. A court banned Al Wefaq in 2016 for "harbouring terrorism", inciting violence and encouraging demonstrations which threatened to spark sectarian strife.Experts cast doubt on upcoming Bahrain elections
/ref> On 17 July 2016, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television and international print media reported that Bahrain's highest court dissolved Al Wefaq and liquidated the group's funds.

Electoral system

The 40 members of the Council of Representatives were elected from single-member constituencies using a

two-round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

; if no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round was held.

Constituencies

Each

governorate A governorate is an administrative division of a state. It is headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either State (administrative division), states or province, provinces, the term ''govern ...

is divided into a number of

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

for the election for the Council of Representatives. Each constituency is listed as area 1, area 2 etc. Each constituency elects one member. Only Bahraini nationals are entitled to stand for and to vote at elections.

Campaign

Candidates had to apply between 17 and 21 October 2018, with 293 registering to contest the 40 seats.

Results

Nine of the 40 constituencies were decided in the first round, with the other 31 going to a runoff. According to the government, voter turnout in the first round was 67%, an increase from 53% in the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

. However, the opposition claimed that the real voter turnout did not exceed 28%-30%.

List of elected members

References

{{Bahraini elections Elections in Bahrain 2018 in Bahrain

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results November 2018 events in Asia December 2018 events in Asia