Sharjah's oldest voter elated

Khalfan Al Shamsi, an 82-year-old retired employee of Sewa from Sharjah, said he was glad he got to take part in this experience before he dies. "I have seen this taking place in other countries, and I always wished I could do it too, and I am so glad I finally did it," he said.

Voting process made easy

A number of special needs people took part in the polls. Some of them were assisted by employees and volunteers at the Sharjah Expo Centre. A special booth with wheelchair access was prepared for physically challenged voters. A visually impaired woman said she was glad to be included in the FNC elections.

Children allowed to watch voting

A group of visiting children surprised many at the Sharjah voting centre. Boys wearing the kandoura, the white national dress, and girls in red were allowed to watch the voting. They were members of clubs in Sharjah and the Sharjah Children's Consultative Council. The Airport Expo polling centre in Dubai also had many young visitors.

Celebration time for RAK family

Salima Esmail and her family rose early to get to the polling station and cast their votes in Ras Al Khaimah. "It is like Eid today, we celebrate it together. It is a national duty and we heard the call of Al Watan [homeland]," she said.

Aroma of ‘oud' fills the air

In Umm Al Quwain the soothing aroma of Arabic "oud" wafted in the air. A worker distributed tea and Arabic coffee to the election staff.

High spirits despite system downtime

At Al Ain Centre, the computers were down for some time in the morning. Some voters felt the 60 booths were not sufficient for the strong turnout of voters. But the glitches did not dampen voters' spirits.

Voting done in five minutes

In Ajman, voter worries about possible overcrowding did not materialise. Saeed Al Muhairi arrived fearing queues. "A lot of people think it would be crowded but it's not. The whole process took me under five minutes."

Sumptuous feast for election staff

No occasion is complete without sumptuous food. While people in the waiting area had tea, coffee, juices and croissants during the day, the election staff had made arrangements for lunch and dinner. The menu included a range of Arabic and Indian foods — from shish tawook and spinach fatteyar to Hyderabadi biryani and coconut korma.