The concept of elections refers to “the right of citizens meeting legal requirements to choose their representatives in parliaments and to participate in the management of their country's public affairs.”

The first elections were held to select (half) the number of members of the Federal National Council in 2006, in accordance with the Resolution of the Federal Supreme Council No. (4) of 2006 on determining the method of choosing the UAE representatives the Federal National Council, and with the Resolution of the President of The UAE No. (3) on the method of selecting representatives of the Emirates for the Federal National Council (FNC).

The representatives of each Emirate were elected to the FNC on the basis of the election of half of the members by an electoral body constituting 100 times the representatives of each Emirate in the FNC as a minimum, while the other half was chosen by the Ruler of the emirate.

The members of the electoral commission for each emirate were named by Their Highnesses Rulers of the Emirates. 6595 members were elected: Emirate of Abu Dhabi (1741), Emirate of Dubai (1520), Emirate of Sharjah (1017), Emirate of Ajman (436), Emirate of Umm Al Quwain (403) - Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah (1061) - Emirate of Fujairah (417).

The Resolution of the President of the UAE granted the National Election Commission (NEC) the authority to exercise all powers necessary to supervise the conduct of the electoral process in all its aspects.

The NEC is a model that gives the UAE elections a civic character that is consistent with the general orientation of the Federation. It combines representatives from the government sector and others from the private sector (i.e. public figures).

The NEC issued executive instructions for the elections, including the rules governing the various stages of the electoral process (the stage of candidacy - the stage of electoral campaigns - electoral irregularities - the authority to monitor the behavior of voters and candidates - the stage of voting, counting and announcing results).

As for how to vote, the NEC adopted the electronic voting system in voting, counting and announcing results. The technical team cooperated with the competent authorities to implement this system, and developed an alternative plan in the event of any technical problems emergency affecting the electronic voting system (risk management system).

The elections of the Federal National Council in 2006 resulted in several positive results, the most important of which was the consolidation of women's participation in the elections in an unprecedented step, which resulted in the victory of the first female member of the Federal National Council, followed by the decision of Their Highnesses Rulers of the Emirates to appoint eight female members; the Council has nine female members out of forty members, equivalent to 22.5% of the total number of members of the Federal National Council.

The elections of the Federal National Council in 2006 - although conducted through limited electoral bodies - represented an important step in the development of political participation in the State, a leap forward in the electoral experience in the UAE, a success paving future successes, and the development of an electoral mechanism commensurate with the nature of the UAE society and its political, economic, social and cultural heritages.

The experience of the first Federal National Council elections in 2006 was followed by the issuance of the Constitutional Amendment No. (1) of 2009, which is the second phase of the implementation of the Political Empowerment Program.

This Constitutional Amendment included prolonging the term of the Federal National Council (i.e., the legislative term) from two to four years, and the prolongation of the session duration from six months to a period of not less than seven months. The Federal National Council was also granted greater autonomy in the development of its internal regulations (so that they are adopted by His Highness the Head of State). Powers of the Federal National Council with respect to international treaties and conventions entered into by the Federal Government have also been expanded.

The 2009 Constitutional Amendment was followed by the Resolution of the Federal Supreme Council No. (1) of 2011 amending the Resolution of the Federal Supreme Council No. (4) of 2006 on the method of selecting representatives of the Emirates for the Federal National Council (FNC). This was followed by the Resolution of the President of the UAE No. (2) of 2011 amending  Resolution No. (3) of 2006, issued by the President of the UAE, on the method of selecting representatives of the Emirates for the Federal National Council.

 Both Amendments included an increase in the minimum number of members of electoral bodies from one hundred to three hundred times the number of representatives of the emirate in the FNC, which is a significant expansion of the level of political participation of citizens in the FNC elections.

The number of members of electoral bodies in the 2011 FNC elections increased to 135,308, i.e. 22 times more than the 2006 FNC elections, which was considered a major achievement of electoral experience and a major step in the political development process in the UAE.

The number of members of electoral bodies in the elections of the Federal National Council in 2015 reached (224,281) citizens, i.e. more by up to (66%) than in 2011.

The "one-vote" system was introduced in place of the "multi-vote" system, so that the elector has only one candidate to choose, regardless the number of candidates to be elected in the emirate to which he belongs.

The electronic voting system was adopted at (36) polling stations at the State level.

Early voting system was introduced in nine polling stations at the State level.

(94) polling stations have been accredited at UAE embassies around the world to give electoral members living abroad the opportunity to vote in elections.