Hand-picked voters in the United Arab Emirates are casting ballots Monday in the second phase of elections for an advisory council.
Rulers of seven emirates comprising the United Arab Emirates have chosen more than 65-hundred voters, less than one percent of their 800-thousand nationals, to elect half of the 40-seat Federal National Council.
The advisory body is seen as an eventual precursor to a national parliament.
Voters elected six council members, including a woman, in the first phase in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah on Saturday.
They will elect four members in the region's burgeoning trade hub Dubai and three in the emirate of Ras al-Khaima today.
Polls take place in the last three emirates on Wednesday.
The vote is the Emirates' first since the country was formed in 1971.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.