[1] The first municipal elections in Saudi Arabia took place in the mid-1920s in the Hijaz cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Yanbu and Taif, as King Abdulaziz ibn Saud established local governments to replace Ottoman and Hashemite rule.
[2] In 2005, elections for half of the municipal councilors were held, with men aged over 21 voting for male candidates.
In May 2009, elections scheduled for October were postponed so authorities could consider expanding those eligible to vote, including women.
[3] Women were not granted franchise until after the 2011 elections, which drew condemnation from Human Rights Watch; some female activists planned 'parallel' municipal councils following the vote.
[8] Amnesty International called King Abdullah's 2011 announcement women could stand for election and vote from 2012 "a welcome, albeit limited, step along the long road towards gender equality in Saudi Arabia, and a testament to the long struggle of women's rights activists there".