Muscat: With electronic voting being introduced for the first time in the history of Shura Council elections, the new election law has cancelled the article related to granting leave to the voter on the election day.

On Thursday, His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik today issued Royal Decree No. (54/ 2023) on the promulgation of Shura Council’s Members Election Law. Shura Council’s Members Election Law was formulated in eight chapters that include 63 articles, however, it cancelled the previous law that granted one-day leave to voters who cast their votes particularly those working in the government and private sector. 

The new law also reduced the minimum voting time to not less than eight hours, while the Main Elections Committee “may extend voting by a total of no more than 4 hours,” the law stated.