Elections in Mauritania

The Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante, known as CENI, administers voter registration, polling-station assignments, electoral lists, ballot papers, voter information, campaign monitoring, staff recruitment and training, voting and counting. It is a permanent body with financial autonomy and an 11-member Comité directeur whose members serve five-year terms. Local and regional CENI offices operate in Wilayas, Moughataas and arrondissements during elections. The Ministère de l’Intérieur et de la Décentralisation supports the territorial administration, while the Conseil Constitutionnel and Cour Suprême decide complaints within their respective powers. Mauritania uses universal, equal and secret suffrage. The voting age is 18. A voter generally needs Mauritanian nationality, full civil and political rights and registration on an electoral list. Non-rehabilitated convictions, certain prison sentences and a lack of full mental capacity can lead to exclusion under the applicable rules. Registration requires a valid biometric identity document. The RAVEL operation rebuilt the electoral register in 2023, and an exceptional revision of electoral lists took place from 15 April to 29 May 2024. A voter card is not required for voting, but a valid identity card or passport is required. No voter fee or general voting obligation is documented in the available rules. The president is elected directly for five years. A candidate needs an absolute majority of valid votes; if no candidate reaches it, the two leading candidates compete in a second round two weeks later. Presidential candidates must be born in Mauritania, be between 40 and 75 years old and retain full civil and political rights. The Constitution allows one re-election. Candidates submit their applications to the Conseil Constitutionnel and need support from at least 100 municipal councillors, including at least five mayors from a majority of the Wilayas. The candidate deposit is 5,000,000 ouguiyas and is returned when the candidate receives at least 2% in the first round. A presidential election is called by presidential decree at least 60 days before voting. The campaign lasts 15 days and ends at midnight on the day before voting. Candidates receive equal state media access, including 1 hour 30 minutes of free television time and 2 hours 30 minutes of free radio time each. The Assemblée Nationale has one chamber and 176 deputies elected for five years. The 2023 election used 62 constituencies and 553 lists. It combined majority voting in one- and two-seat constituencies with proportional list voting in constituencies with at least three seats. The 104 Moughataa seats included four seats for citizens abroad, while Nouakchott had 21 seats. The national lists included 20 general seats, 20 women’s-list seats and 11 youth-list seats. The four external constituencies are Afrique, Asie, Europe and Amériques, and citizens abroad vote directly in them. Youth-list candidates are aged 25 to 35. National party lists must include at least two people with disabilities, and the women’s list uses alternating genders. Parliamentary candidates must be at least 25 years old. The deposit is 10,000 ouguiyas and is returned to a list receiving more than 3% of valid votes. Mauritania has 13 regional councils, covering 12 regions and Nouakchott, with 285 seats recorded for the 2023 election. Regional councillors are elected in one round by proportional representation using the electoral quotient and the highest remainder. The head of the list with the highest vote total becomes president of the region. Regional candidates must be at least 25 years old, pay a 5,000-ouguiya deposit and receive its return when the list exceeds 3% of valid votes. Lists also have minimum representation requirements for women. Municipal councils are elected in 238 communes, with 4,142 seats recorded for 2023. The same proportional method based on the electoral quotient and highest remainder applies. The head of the list with the highest vote total becomes maire. Candidates must be at least 25 years old, pay a 5,000-ouguiya deposit and receive its return when the list exceeds 3% of valid votes. At least 20% of municipal seats are reserved for women through the applicable quota rules. Citizens abroad vote in person in eight countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Gambie, Guinée-Bissau, Arabie saoudite, Émirats arabes unis, Qatar, France and États-Unis. These voters use the four external parliamentary constituencies. In 2024, 29,371 citizens abroad were registered. On election day, polling usually takes place in a public building. Officials verify identity, check the voter list, provide ballots, protect secret voting in a booth, place ballots in the urns and apply indelible ink to the left index finger. In the 2024 presidential election, polling ran from 07:00 to 19:00. A neutral option can appear on the ballot. A voter with a disability may receive assistance from another voter or a trusted person. Several elections can take place on the same day. In the 2023 multiple election, voters received six ballots: four parliamentary ballots for the national party list, women’s list, youth list and Moughataa or Nouakchott list, plus one regional and one municipal ballot. Colour-coded urns help separate them. Accredited candidate representatives, observers and journalists may attend the process. Each polling bureau has a president and two assessors. Candidate representatives may observe the count and request that an observation be entered in the official record. Counting begins publicly after polling closes. Officials compare the number of ballots with the number of voters, assess validity and record the result. Five copies of the official record are sent to the Conseil Constitutionnel, CENI, the Ministry of the Interior, the Wilaya and the Moughataa. Extracts go to candidate representatives and are displayed at the polling station. CENI aggregates results at Moughataa level with the Conseil Constitutionnel. The Conseil Constitutionnel gives the final result for presidential elections; CENI gives final results for other elections unless a competent court decides a complaint. Complaints follow short deadlines. A CENI decision can generally be challenged before the next level within eight days, and that body decides within eight days. A central CENI decision can be taken to the Conseil Constitutionnel within 15 days. A presidential candidate must submit a written complaint within 48 hours after voting ends; the Conseil Constitutionnel decides within eight days, and its decision is final. Registered voters and candidates can challenge parliamentary results in writing, without a fee and without suspending the result, within 10 days after proclamation. Regional and municipal results are reviewed by the Cour Suprême. An established irregularity can lead to a partial or complete annulment. In the 2024 presidential election, held on 29 June, no complaint was submitted within the deadline, and the Conseil Constitutionnel proclaimed the result on 3 July. Mohamed Cheikh EL GHAZOUANI received 554,956 votes, or 56.12%, from 988,829 valid votes; 1,074,208 of 1,939,343 registered voters participated, a turnout of 55.39%. The 2023 elections took place on 13 May and 27 May, with 1,786,448 registered voters, 1,267,968 voters and 4,428 polling stations in Mauritania and abroad. The next planning references are parliamentary elections in 2028 and a presidential election in 2029, but exact dates depend on the decree calling each election.