Parliamentary elections in Kuwait are a bit different this year: for the first time, women are able to vote and run for office.
Early elections were called last month by Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. al-Sabah dissolved parliament after a dispute arose between the government and the opposition parties over electoral reforms.
Female sufferage officially arrived in May 2005 when parliament passed a new law. In addition to being allowed to cast ballots, women were given the right to run for seats in the 50-person National Assembly.
A total of 250 candidates are running for the National Assembly in today's election. 28 women are on the ballot.
'The participation of women in the elections makes this a historic day for Kuwait,' U.S.-educated female candidate Fatima al-Abdali told CNN. 'The success of any woman will be a victory for all Kuwaiti, Gulf and Arab women.'
The female candidates face long odds as Islamists and other conservative elements vehemently oppose their candidacy. Still, woman do make up 57 percent of the eligible voters.
'I hope all Kuwait women go out and vote and each woman has to give her vote to another woman,' candidate Nabila al-Anjari, 50, told Reuters outside a polling station in her Jabriya constituency.
'Today's parliamentary elections are different and will enter Kuwait's political history; Kuwait women will practice their right to run and vote,' the Kuwaiti daily 'al-Anbaa' said.
Regardless of the outcome, today's elections in Kuwait represent a first for women in that country.
