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Parliamentary elections were held in the United Arab Emirates on 3 October 2015 to elect the half of the members of the 15th Chapter of the Federal National Council, and appoint the other half of the members.
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Electoral system
At the time of the elections the 40-member Federal National Council had 20 indirectly-elected members and 20 appointed members. The 20 elected members were elected by seven electoral colleges; the colleges of Abu Dhabi and Dubai elected four members, the colleges of Sharjah and Ras al-Khaimah elected three, and the colleges of Ajman, Fujairah and Umm al-Quwain elected two. Only around a third of the population were members of the electoral colleges.
The elections were held using the two-round system, with candidates having to achieve at least 50% of the vote in the first round to be elected. Each voter had as many votes as there were seats elected by their college.
Campaign
A total of 330 candidates contested the elections, of which 252 were men and 78 women. Campaigning was allowed between 6 and 30 September.
Results
Of the twenty elected members, 19 were men and one a woman, Naama Al Sharhan, who was elected in Ras al-Khaimah. Voter turnout was 35%, up from 26% in the 2011 elections, and ranged from 70% in Umm al-Quwain to 22.1% in Dubai.