Saudis poised for historic vote

Saudi Arabia is due to hold its first ever nationwide municipal elections as the government aims to introduce elements of democracy in the kingdom.
The polls begin in the capital, Riyadh, on Thursday, with later rounds to be held over three months in other cities.
Overall, 1,800 candidates are vying for 592 seats in 178 councils. In Riyadh, 650 are fighting for just seven seats.
Women are excluded from the polls and only some 148,000 of 400,000 eligible men have registered to vote in Riyadh.
The polls can be seen as a small step in Saudi Arabia's measured response to calls for reform, correspondents say.
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I some how doubt this is the start of true reforms the so called elections are being held to suck up to Bush and his cronies.
Its funny how Bush never says anything about human rights abuses in China then again why would he? The shirt on his back is made in China.

I saw on the news that women were not allowed to vote becaue they did not have time to prepare a separate voting area for them.

Who are they trying to fool? Everyone knows they treat their women as second class citizens. During college I had a guy from Saudi Arabia in one of my classes. While talking to him he mentioned he had 4 or 5 wives. I asked him how they liked America. His reply was that he did not bring them becasue he did not want them influenced by america culture. I guess he really did not want them to see how good they could have it.