They were referred to a Saudi terrorism court because of their posts on social media and jailed for 10 weeks and have not stopped their campaign to overturn rules forbidding women from driving and stipulating that they must be accompanied by male chaperones. The decision clears the way for Hathloul’s name to be on Saturday’s ballot in Riyadh as part of nationwide races for municipal council seats – the first elections in the ultraconservative kingdom to allow women to compete and vote. Women will be running for office and voting for the first time after being granted limited rights in 2011 by the late King Abdullah – there are thought to be more than 900 women are among the nearly 7,000 candidates. pic.twitter.com/poJ68NOUvt — لجين هذلول الهذلول (@LoujainHathloul) December 9, 2015 
 
 “Basically, I annoyed them,” she said. “I guess it worked. Loujain al-Hathloul made international headlines last year, when she filmed herself driving from the United Arab Emirates to the Saudi Arabian border in protest against the restrictions on women drivers. A year earlier, her husband-to-be, a well-known Saudi satirist named Farhad Albutairi, helped produce one of his memorable videos: “No Woman, No Drive” to the tune of the Bob Marley classic “No Woman, No Cry.” 
 
 Hathloul said her initial motivation to run for a council seat was simply to boost the number of women taking part. It’s amazing news… The municipal councils have nothing to do with the driving ban. “The councils are just about fixing up the community.
– What a difference a year makes. In 2014, activist Loujain al-Hathloul was arrested for purposefully violating Saudi Arabia's law against women driving, the Washington Post reports. This weekend, Saudis will be able to cast a vote for her. Al-Hathloul received international fame when she live-streamed herself behind the wheel. After her arrest, she was forced to wait in her car overnight before being sentenced in a Saudi terrorism court, according to the Independent. She spent 73 days in jail. Saturday marks the first time women will be able to vote and run for office in Saudi Arabia, the Post reports. Al-Hathloul threw her hat into the ring for municipal council, but Saudi officials banned her from running. No explanation was given. Those same officials reversed that decision Wednesday—again no explanation was given—and al-Hathloul will appear on the ballot, the Independent reports. According to the Post, al-Hathloul credits her constant interviews and lobbying for the government's turnaround. "Basically, I annoyed them," she says. "I guess it worked." Al-Hathloul says she was originally running just to boost the number of female candidates—more than 900 of the nearly 7,000 candidates on Saturday's ballot are women—but then the government tried to stop her. "The goal has changed," she says. "I want to make a point. It's a personal thing now." While not under the purview of a municipal council member, al-Hathloul is still dedicated to repealing Saudi Arabia's ban on female drivers, the Independent reports.