UAE to Hold Election in September

According to the local paper, the UAE will hold the second election in its history in September to pick half the members of its advisory national assembly. Also according to the article, they tripled the number of voters, who are handpicked by the rulers. The first election took place in 2006 with 6, 600 voters (including 1,160 women). The voters accounted for less than 1% of the population and were named by the rulers of the seven emirates that make up the UAE. The election announcement comes as neighboring countries have seen protests and unrest. Although, the UAE has recently sent some of their military troops to Bahrain to help maintain order and security and is helping to maintain the no-fly zone in Libya...things continue to be normal and safe here.