The End of History?

As Scorn for Vote Grows, Protests Surge Around Globe

Saudi Men Go to Polls; Women Wait

CAIRO — Saudi men voted in local elections on Thursday for just the second time in the history of the conservative kingdom, but the polls remained closed to a majority of the Saudi population, including women, who were promised the right to vote in municipal elections scheduled for 2015 in a royal decree issued last week.

The elections were for local advisory councils with no lawmaking authority or ability to alter the status quo in one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies. Also barred from voting were men employed by the police and security forces as well as all men under the age of 21. Official figures estimate the number of eligible voters to be 1.2 million out of more than 18 million Saudi citizens.