John Burgess over at Crossroads Arabia notes an article in Arab News that says 87% of Saudis favor female participation in elections.

JEDDAH, 16 March 2005 ???????? A survey conducted by an independent agency in Jeddah showed 87 percent Saudis backing women????????s participation in elections. It also reflected the greater role of media in educating the public on the polls.

???????Eighty-seven percent of 240 Saudis who took part in the survey called for women????????s participation in the next round of elections,??????? said Dr. Muhammad Fashetan, chairman of the SAS Center for Opinion Survey and Consultancy in Jeddah.

He said the survey????????s participants included 50 teachers, 20 businessmen, six university students, 40 government employees, 20 retired military officers, 20 media persons and 30 retired civilian officials.

He notes that the survey should have been more broad, but does seem valid in conduction. On another note, Saudi women are finally getting ID cards, which is another step toward suffrage. John explains:

This is an important step in providing access to rights by Saudi women. But, not unusually, the process is still muddled.

The lack of ID was cited as one of the technical reasons that women couldn????????t vote in the current elections. With this new regulation, requiring women to have ID cards within 18 months, that excuse no longer works.