Women flocked in their hundreds to voting centers even before they opened in this conservative nation where 70 percent of girls and women are illiterate.
The authorities have encouraged women, who account for some 3.9 million out of a total of 9.25 million registered voters, to take part in the ballot.
The voices of these women were hardly audible under their thick black veils, which show only their eyes through a narrow slit.
Their electoral cards, however, carried photos of their faces, with female election observers belonging to the Al Islah Islamist party using stickers to cover the images, normally barred from public viewing by a conservative interpretation of Islam.
Voter Mahdeya Mohammad Saleh did not know her age. "I was told that I am between 48 and 54 years old," she said at a voting center in the capital, Sanaa.
"My parents married me when I was 11 years old. I have 12 children," she said.
Unable to decipher more than the first letter in her name, Mahdeya was helped by a neighbor who ticked the names of her chosen candidates on her behalf.
"It is my right!" she said when asked why she was voting.
"Elections are one of the rare chances to practice our civil rights in this society," said 45-year-old Fatema Shamsan. "I have not missed any vote. I voted for the first time in the last presidential elections," in 1999, said the former teacher and mother of four.
Refusing to disclose her preferred presidential candidate, she insisted that she would "never give her vote to a woman."
"I believe in equality between men and women, but not in all fields. A woman cannot govern," she said.
Her opinion was shared by most women in the voting center, who said that they had voted for male candidates.
There are no females among the five presidential candidates, but some 130 women are running for positions in the municipal elections.
"In politics, a man is better than a woman. He is strong and has the features needed to lead, while a woman is physically weak and emotional," said Radia Osman, who described her age as between 32 and 35 years old.
Radia, married to a police officer and mother to eight children, said that she hoped for a better future for her three daughters.
She said that she would allow her 18-year-old eldest daughter to get married only if she were allowed to continue in higher education.
"I voted because I hope for a tangible change that will bring my daughters a better situation and education than mine," she said.
"Better education for girls is our priority. An educated woman finds a job easily, and has better control over her life," said Nabila Al Ameri.
"Our vote today is an action for the future of our daughters. Married very young, we get only the difficulties of life: consecutive childbirths and housework," she said.
"I voted to demand economic and social improvement," she added.
An old woman wearing a straw hat featuring a photo of election favorite President Ali Abdullah Saleh over her black veil walked with the help of cane on one side and her grandson on the other to reach the voting center in the neighborhood of Hassaba, in the north of Sanaa.
"She is around 80 years old and can't move easily. She insisted on coming to vote for Ali [Abdullah Saleh] who has promised to eradicate poverty and unemployment by 2007," her grandson said on her behalf.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.