Elections in Burkina Faso

Following the revised Transition Charter (Charte de la Transition) of 25 May 2024, Burkina Faso is under a five-year transitional framework that began on 2 July 2024 and is nominally scheduled to end on 2 July 2029. The election of a president, a parliament and municipal representatives at the end of the transition is planned, but a regular nationwide election calendar had not been established as of 6 September 2026. During the transition, separate institutions are in place, including the President of Burkina Faso, the government and the Transitional Legislative Assembly (Assemblée législative de transition (ALT)); the ALT is not the result of an ordinary parliamentary election. Under the previous electoral law, the president was elected directly and by universal suffrage. If no candidate received an absolute majority, a second round followed 15 days later; the term lasted five years and was limited to a maximum of two terms. Under that previous framework, presidential candidates were required, among other things, to have been born in Burkina Faso and to be between 35 and 75 years old. The transitional framework may replace these rules. The previous parliament had 127 seats: 16 seats through national lists and 111 seats through provincial lists. Seats were allocated directly, equally and by secret ballot under a proportional representation system using an electoral quotient and the largest remainder. Municipal elections followed separate procedures within the electoral law. Political parties and formations were dissolved by a government decree of 29 January 2026; on 9 February 2026, the ALT additionally repealed laws on parties, party financing, campaign financing and the status of the opposition. Party-based candidacies therefore remain legally unclear until new rules take effect. The Independent National Electoral Commission (Commission électorale nationale indépendante (CENI)) historically maintained the national voter register, organized registration, monitored polling stations and published provisional results. The ALT decided to dissolve it on 28 October 2025. A fully documented successor authority or current operational procedure is not yet known. Future notices from the transitional authorities, the responsible ministry, the new electoral authority and the courts therefore take precedence over older CENI information. Under the previous procedure, eligible voters registered on the local electoral roll. This historically required a valid Burkinabè identity card or an ordinary passport, a biometric voter card and personal attendance at the registration center. For nationals living abroad, registration historically took place through embassies or consulates. As a general rule, Burkinabè nationals aged 18 or older on election day were eligible to vote, provided they retained their civil and political rights and were not subject to statutory exclusions such as certain convictions, judgments in absentia or restrictions on legal capacity to vote. The electoral law also contained historical rules for foreign residents, including an actual stay of ten days, a recognized professional or functional status and fulfilled tax obligations; their continued validity must be reconfirmed. For a presidential candidacy, the previous law required submission at least 50 days before the first round and a deposit of 25,000,000 CFA francs (FCFA). Repayment was provided for if at least ten percent of the votes were obtained and was to take place within 15 days after the final result. For a parliamentary list, the historical deposit was 50,000 CFA francs, also with a ten-percent repayment threshold. Forms, deadlines, amounts and submission offices must be checked against the law in force before any future election. On election day, the polling office verifies registration and identity before the vote is cast in secret. The exact polling-station assignment, permitted documents and security and access rules depend on the later election notice and the local situation. After closing, the votes are counted immediately and recorded in an official record (procès-verbal). Provisional results differ from the final result. Under the previous constitutional framework, disputes over presidential and parliamentary elections were referred to the Constitutional Council (Conseil constitutionnel). Challenges to municipal results proceeded through administrative courts, with the Council of State (Conseil d'État) having the final role. Deadlines are short; election records, receipts, personal notes and proof of timely submission should therefore be preserved. No fee for voting itself was identified in the reviewed electoral law, while identity documents and candidacy deposits may incur costs.