"Women candidates can't address men directly, so have had to speak through male relatives"

Women candidates can’t address men directly, so have had to speak through male relatives or supporters, or speak from behind a partition and rely on projectors and microphones.

Uber is offering free rides for women to the polls on Saturday, since Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world which doesn’t allow women to drive. The service is offered as a joint effort with the Al-Nahda Philanthropic Society for Women, a Saudi women’s empowerment group.

Municipal council elections are the only type of elections in which Saudi citizens can directly elect their representatives, and they’re quite rare.

There have only been two other such elections — in 2005 and 2011 — and only men took part previously.