Electoral headquarters in the State of Kuwait to elect members of the Kuwaiti National Assembly in 2024 for its 18th legislative term to elect 50 members were closed at 12 pm on Thursday evening, according to the local time of the State of Kuwait, to begin after the work of counting votes and announcing the results and the names of the winning members of the National Assembly.
The voting process began on Thursday morning at 12 noon according to local time in the State of Kuwait, under full judicial supervision. It also witnessed a large turnout by Kuwaiti citizens to cast their votes immediately after the electoral committees began opening voting today.
The turnout of Kuwaiti citizens to cast their electoral votes was due to their keenness to perform their national duty and to emphasize the importance of the role of the National Assembly in drawing up the general policies of the State of Kuwait during the next stage, and the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshaal Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, directed his people to the necessity of presence and electoral participation and to be keen on choosing the best person to represent the people during the next stage.
The elections were held among 200 candidates for council membership for the next four years, according to the system of five districts and one vote, in elections that are the second of their kind in the history of Kuwaiti parliamentary life, and whose date coincides with the holy month of Ramadan.
It should be noted that 834,733 voters, including 405,984 men and 428,785 women, have the right to vote to choose one candidate from among the total candidates competing in the five electoral districts, with each district represented by the top ten candidates.
In the first electoral district, 41 candidates are competing for the votes of the district’s voters, in the second district 39 candidates, in the third district 32 candidates, in the fourth district 48 candidates, and in the fifth district 40 candidates.
The Kuwaiti National Assembly, in accordance with Article 80 of the Constitution and Article 1 of the Council’s internal regulations issued by Law No. 12 of 1963, consists of 50 members elected by direct secret general election in accordance with the electoral law.
Ministers who are not elected in the National Assembly are considered members of this Council by virtue of their positions, and the number of ministers (16 ministers) does not all exceed one-third of the number of members of the National Assembly.
According to Article 83 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the Internal Regulations, the term of the National Assembly is four Gregorian years from the date of its first meeting, and renewal takes place within the 60 days preceding the end of that period, taking into account the provision of Article 107 of the Constitution, which stipulates that the Emir may dissolve the National Assembly by a decree stating It contains the reasons for dissolution, provided that the Council may not be dissolved for the same reasons again.
These elections come following the issuance of Decree No. 16 of 2024 on February 15, dissolving the National Assembly in accordance with Article 107 of the Constitution.
A decree was also issued at the beginning of last March regarding inviting voters to elect members of the National Assembly, and Thursday was set as the date for voting.
