On Saturday, Emirati voters elected the newest members of the Federal National Council. When compared to OECD countries, the UAE's voter turnout is relatively low. However, the election marked the highest rates of Emirati participation and voter registration yet.

In 2011, 28 percent of the 129,274 eligible Emiratis voted, compared to 35 percent of 224,270 eligible voters in this election. In terms of voter demographics, men voted more consistently than women in all emirates, with a turnout of ratio of 48,330 to 30,827.

Additionally, the highest voter turnout was seen in Ajman, with 70 percent compared to roughly 49 percent in Umm al Quwain and Fujairah, 42 percent in Ras Al Khaimah, 38 percent in Abu Dhabi, 30 percent in Dubai and 22 percent in Sharjah.

Voters in this past election are members of the National Electoral College and account for about a third of Emirati nationals. The National Election Committee chooses eligible voters in each emirate and each emirate also designates a certain numbers of locals as eligible voters.

One has to be an Emirati national, over 25 years old, of good character, literate and not to have been convicted of any crime in order to be considered in this selection. All candidates for office are drawn from the pool of eligible voters.

Each emirate gets a quota of representatives depending on their population and there is a ratio of half-appointed members to half-elected members for each emirate: Abu Dhabi and Dubai get eight members each, Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah each get six while Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah only get four members each. The first elections for 20 members occurred in 2006 in a push to make the UAE more democratic.

In terms of this election’s importance, the FNC is the legislative body for the UAE and is one of the five federal authorities along with the Federal Supreme Council, Federal President, Federal Vice President, the Federal Cabinet and the Federal Judiciary.

The official mandate of the FNC is to provide a space for the public debate of legislation. The council discusses proposals and the plans of various federal ministries, entities and public institutions and ultimately serves as an advising body to the UAE government.

Largely, the rulers of the seven emirates that constitute the Federal Supreme Council, Federal Presidency and Federal Vice-Presidency make most of the major binding decisions, but the FNC role is not to be understated. While its level of freedom and power is much diluted compared to the Bahraini and Kuwaiti parliaments, it stands as an important, partially-elected consultation entity not found in neighbors like Saudi Arabia.

The next election cycle for the FNC has yet to be determined.