Parliamentary elections were held in the
United Arab Emirates on 3 October 2015 to elect the half of the members of the
Federal National Council. The elections took place through an
electoral college, which was expanded from 129,274 members in the 2011 elections to 224,279 for the 2015 elections.
Electoral system
At the time of the elections, the 40-member Federal National Council had 20 indirectly-elected members and 20 appointed members. The 20 elected members were elected by seven
electoral colleges; the colleges of
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
and
Dubai elected four members, the colleges of
Sharjah and
Ras al-Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْخَيْمَة, historically Julfar) is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates. It is the sixth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Al Ain ...
elected three, and the colleges of
Ajman,
Fujairah and
Umm al-Quwain elected two.
[ Only around a third of Emirati citizens (who themselves are around 12% of the country's population) were members of the electoral colleges.][Voting is a privilege that I intend to exercise wisely]
The National, 1 October 2015
Following changes to the electoral system, the elections were held using single non-transferable vote
Single non-transferable vote or SNTV is an electoral system used to elect multiple winners. It is a generalization of first-past-the-post, applied to multi-member districts with each voter casting just one vote. Unlike FPTP, which is a single-winn ...
, meaning voters could only vote for one candidate in their emirate, irrespective of the number of seats.[Electoral system]
IPU Overseas voting was allowed for the first time.
On election day, 36 voting centers were opened nationwide, nine of which had opened for early voting on 28–30 September. Overseas voters were able to cast their vote for the first time in 94 voting centers in UAE embassies on 20–21 September. Overall 79,157 voters cast their vote, making a turnout of 35.29%.
Campaign
A total of 330 candidates contested the elections, of which 252 were men and 78 women. Campaigning was allowed between 6 and 30 September.
Results
Of the twenty elected members, 19 were men and only one woman, Naama Al Sharhan, who was elected in Ras al-Khaimah. Voter turnout was 35%, up from 26% in the 2011 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2011.
* Local electoral calendar 2011
* National electoral calendar 2011
* 2011 United Nations Security Council election
Africa
* 2011 Beninese presidential election
* 2011 Beninese parliamentary el ...
, and ranged from 70% in Umm al-Quwain to 22.1% in Dubai.National Elections Committee: voter turnout reasonable considering ‘lack of pressure’ in UAE
The National, 4 October 2015
Elected members
References
{{United Arab Emirates elections
Elections in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
Parliamentary
United Arab Emirates
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results