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UAE FNC elections 2023: Casting votes took less than 5 minutes, say Emiratis on day 2 of polls

From young individuals to the elderly, hundreds of voters — including wheelchair-bound nationals — were spotted at a polling centre in Sharjah

Published: Thu 5 Oct 2023, 6:05 PM

Updated: Thu 5 Oct 2023, 7:48 PM

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Photos by M. Sajjad

Photos by M. Sajjad

The in-person early voting for the UAE's Federal National Council (FNC) elections 2023 continued on Thursday, with a good turnout recorded at polling centres across the country.

Emiratis praised the election process, saying everything was “smooth and user-friendly” and casting votes didn't even take them more than five minutes.

From young individuals to the elderly, hundreds of voters — including wheelchair-bound nationals — were spotted at the Sharjah Cultural and Chess Club.

An FNC candidate at the site said the voting process was "very simple".

"The environment here is quite good and everything is proceeding smoothly. People are casting votes online also and this option is very beneficial for those who can’t come to the centre,” the candidate told Khaleej Times.

Volunteers stationed across the polling centres were all smiles as they welcomed and assisted voters. Both male and female cadres were deployed to ensure a smooth election process. Ample parking was provided while buggies were used to transport voters to the centre from the parking lots.

Early voting for this year's FNC elections took place at nine main centres for two days, October 4 to 5. The main election day will be on October 7, from 8am to 8pm, with 24 main centres ready for the polls.

Emiratis can vote remotely from October 4 to 7.

There are a total of 398,879 registered voters for this year, according to a report on Wam in August. This marked an 18.1 per cent increase over the 2019 figure at 337,738 Emiratis. Women make up 51 per cent of the voters this year.

A significant portion of voters — more than half at 55 per cent — were aged between 21 and 40 years. Those aged 31-40 accounted for 29.89 per cent.

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