Kuwait national election, 2006
Encyclopedia
Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
held a national election on June 29, 2006. The voters selected the 50 members of the country's National Assembly
National Assembly of Kuwait
The National Assembly of Kuwait, known as the Majlis Al-Umma , is the legislature of Kuwait. The current speaker of the Assembly is Jassem Al-Kharafi. The Emir unconstitutionally dissolved the National Assembly in 1986 and restored it after the Gulf War in 1992...
. For the first time, universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
was in force, and all Kuwaiti citizens at least 21 years of age were allowed to participate except for members of the armed forces. It is estimated that there are around 340,000 people eligible to vote in Kuwait. Although 57% of the eligible voters in Kuwait are women, in the final poll, only 35% of the total voters were women.