Over 50% voter turnout by 11am, HH The Amir and other leaders vote in referendum
Thousands of Qatari citizens flocked to polling stations around the country today to participate in the referendum on the 2024 draft constitutional amendments to the Qatari constitution, which began at 7am.
Qatar’s Ministry of Interior announced that by 11am, voter turnout for the referendum had reached a healthy 51%.
The country’s leaders led from the front, with HH The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Father Amir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Qatar Foundation Chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser all casting their votes at different booths.
The voting, which is being carried out in 10 paper polling facilities and 18 electronic polling centres across Qatar, will go on until 7pm.
“This vote is very important and I look forward to a positive result to emerge from it. Overall, I was very happy with the whole experience,” Qatari voter Abdullah Jassim Al Darwish was quoted as saying by The Peninsula.
The General Referendum Committee, tasked with the referendum’s smooth running, had arranged paper ballots and iPads for electronic vote casting.
Qatari voters aged 18 and above had to attend in person wth their Qatari or Digital Qatar ID cards. Remote voting, for Qataris residing outside the country, was also arranged through the Metrash 2 app.
The citizens displayed great enthusiasm while turning out in large numbers to vote.
On October 29, HH the Amir issued Decree No. (87) of 2024, inviting all citizens aged 18 and above to participate in a general referendum on the constitutional amendments to Qatar’s permanent constitution on November 5.
The Cabinet had granted all Qatari employees permission to leave their workplaces early on Tuesday, starting at 11 am, in response to Sheikh Tamim’s invitation for all citizens to participate in the referendum.
The Ministry of Education and Higher Education had earlier declared a holiday to all schools in the country, both public and private, on Tuesday to ensure effective participation in the 2024 constitutional amendment referendum.
Vote sorting and counting procedures will begin immediately after close of proceedings at 7pm, with the General Committee expected to announce the results within 24 hours of the end of voting.
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