BEIRUT: Seven women were elected to the Druze Spiritual Council in polls which had more than 70-percent voter turnout, the election supervision committee officially announced Monday. The head of the committee Judge Sajih Aawar praised “the noticeable participation of Druze women” in elections held Sunday, with candidates supported by Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party winning 80 percent of the seats. The rest of the seats were won by independent candidates as none of the candidates backed by Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab managed to win. “The new council includes seven women and we had hoped that the number would be bigger,” Aawar said adding that “the voter turnout was over 70 percent as opposed to reports published by the media, as 870 people participated out of 1,232 registered voters.”