June 30, 2006
Kuwait’s First Ever Internet Election
Kuwait's parliamentary elections mark a number of firsts: the first time women are able to vote and the first time that the Internet has played a role in a Kuwaiti election.
The Kuwaiti council by-election held earlier this week marked the first time women have been able to vote, although early poll results show that women failed to gain any seats this time around.
This election was also the first in which the Internet was used as a campaign tool. One article attributed the popularity of the Internet to the heat, “the medium proves to suit Kuwait's summer, as temperatures approach 45C, so everyone stays indoors and taps away at their laptops.”
Corruption and vote-buying are central issues to the election and rumors and allegations are circulating in the traditional media and on the Web. One recent accusation was published online on the Kuwait blog 'Sahat Al-Safa,’ where a video alleges to catch Jamal Al-Omar, candidate of the tenth district in the act of vote-buying.
Kuwaiti college students and other young Kuwaitis have organized groups to lobby for electoral reform and fight vote buying as well. On its Web site, one group called Kuwait5, urged Kuwaitis to send SMSs to reform candidates as well as messages to others ``whose positions are not clear.''
Posted by Buzz Webster at June 30, 2006 10:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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blogged you at: http://internationaldemoblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/kuwaits-online-election.html
Posted by: Mary Joyce ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](/mt-static/images/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 1, 2006 11:41 AM
blogged you at: http://internationaldemoblog.blogspot.com/2006/07/kuwaits-online-election.html
Posted by: Mary Joyce at July 1, 2006 11:41 AM
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