Women win their first election in Saudi Arabia

Women captured a handful of locally elected positions in Saudi Arabia during the first opportunity in the ultra-conservative Islamic nation for them to vote and seek office, according to preliminary results released Sunday.

Reuters reported that up to 17 women were elected in races for 2,100 municipal contests. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy, but since 2005, the public has been allowed to vote to fill councils that approve budgets and provide oversight of urban development.

About 980 women ran in the elections out of 6,900 candidates. There were 130,000 women who registered to vote compared with 1.35 million men. Women remain prohibited from driving cars in Saudi Arabia and must obtain permission from male relatives to marry, attend higher education or travel abroad.