ABU DHABI // Registration centres for the Federal National Council elections in October are ready and waiting for candidates to arrive this month.
The registration process will begin on August 16 and run until August 20.
Candidates must be at least 25 years old on election day on October 3, literate and a citizen of the emirate they live in, and have a certificate of good conduct.
Nearly 225,000 Emiratis are eligible to vote or stand as candidates, compared with 135,308 at the last election in 2011. More than two thirds are under 40, and nearly half are women.
Prospective candidates can submit their nomination in person or through a representative in their emirate.
To complete the registration process, electoral college members must take their original Emirates ID, family book and a certificate of good conduct addressed to the National Election Commission, and Dh1,000 in cash.
If a representative is registering for a candidate, they must also produce their own Emirates ID card. Representatives need not be a member of the electoral college but must be Emirati, literate and with an academic certificate. Candidates must also register in the emirate in which they live.
Tariq Lootah, chairman of the Election Management Committee, said: “The committee and all its teams are ready to begin this pivotal stage of the electoral process.
“The committee aims to implement all stages of the electoral process with the highest degree of professionalism.”
Prospective candidates in the military, or who work in federal or local government, will require an absence certificate that shows they will be on leave from the date of the announcement of the final list of candidates, August 31, until election day.
Members of the judiciary who intend to be candidates must provide a certificate proving their resignation from their job with a request to run for election.
Current FNC members who wish to re-register in the elections are suspended from the date of announcement of the final list of candidates.
Candidates can choose to withdraw their candidacy by September 14.
The election will be held in several centres nationwide on October 3. Those who wish to vote early can do so, on September 28 to 30.
UAE nationals who live abroad can vote on September 20 and 21.
The full electoral roll is online from Monday at uaenec.ae and on the National Election Commission app, available from the Apple Store and Google Play.
http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/fnc-candidate-registration-cent...
