Bahrain has a bicameral National Assembly (''al-Jam'iyyah al-Watani'') consisting of the Shura Council (''Majlis Al-Shura'') with 40 seats and the Council of Representatives (''Majlis Al-Nuwab'') with 40 seats. The forty members of the Shura are appointed by the king. In the Council of Representatives, 40 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve four-year terms. The appointed council "exercises a ''de facto'' veto" over the elected, because draft acts must be approved so they may pass into law. After approval, the king may ratify and issue the act or return it within six months to the National Assembly where it may only pass into law if approved by two thirds of both councils.