Elections in Nicaragua

Nicaragua’s current electoral framework is based on the 2025 Constitution and Electoral Law No. 1242. The CSE has exclusive responsibility for the electoral calendar, district boundaries, voter rolls, materials, procedures, provisional and final results, credentials and the transfer of offices. The National Assembly elects six CSE magistrates for six-year terms, with equal representation of women and men and at least 60% of Assembly votes. Departmental, regional and municipal electoral councils and the Junta Receptora de Votos (JRV) operate under the CSE. General elections choose the two national co-presidential offices, 20 national Assembly seats, 70 departmental or regional Assembly seats and 20 Parlacen seats. Municipal elections choose the mayor, vice-mayor and municipal councils in each municipality. Regional elections choose the autonomous regional councils of the RACCN and RACCS, each with 45 members elected in 15 constituencies. Co-presidential and mayoral contests use relative majority. Assembly, Parlacen, municipal-council and regional-council seats use party lists, an electoral quotient and the largest-average method known as media mayor. Lists follow alternating gender parity, and the CSE must ensure that at least half of municipal governments are led by women. Voting is available to Nicaraguan citizens from age 16 who retain their civil and political rights and are registered in the Registro Electoral or permanent Padrón Electoral. The voter identifies themselves with a Cédula de Identidad or Documento Supletorio de Votación. A JRV has three members. It is formed at 06:00, voting normally runs from 07:00 to 18:00, and the voter receives an official paper ballot, marks the relevant circle and places it in the ballot box. The CSE rules provide procedures for accessibility and assistance. Voting from abroad is limited to national elections and depends on the CSE establishing the required organizational conditions. National and regional parties can obtain legal personality through procedures verified by the CSE. Parties and alliances nominate candidates, register fiscales to monitor proceedings and receive credentials. The Fiscalía Especial Electoral within the Ministerio Público operates from 30 days before the start of the campaign until electoral cases are concluded. Public campaign financing is provided according to the Electoral Law and the applicable budget. Candidate requirements vary: a co-presidential candidate must be at least 25, hold Nicaraguan nationality and civil and political rights, and have six continuous years of residence in Nicaragua; Assembly, Parlacen and municipal candidates generally must be at least 21 and satisfy their specific nationality and residence rules. Regional-council candidates must have Caribbean birth or descent, or six years of regional residence. After voting closes, the JRV completes an Acta de Cierre and counts the ballots at the polling place in the presence of fiscales. A ballot counts when the voter’s intention is clear; blank or uninterpretable ballots are recorded as zero votes. The act records total ballots, valid votes, zero votes, party results and complaints, then goes to the CSE through the relevant CED, CER or CEM. The CSE publishes provisional results, handles complaints and impugnaciones, declares definitive results, issues credentials and transfers the offices. A complaint first enters the electoral system through the JRV; the relevant electoral council reviews a challenged count and the CSE decides. Electoral and party decisions are generally not subject to ordinary or extraordinary review outside that system. Electoral periods are six years. General elections are scheduled for the first Sunday after November 2, municipal elections one year after the general election on the same type of date, and regional elections on the first Sunday in March. Current budget planning points to general elections in 2027 and municipal elections in 2028, which would correspond mathematically to November 7, 2027 and November 5, 2028; the CSE has not yet published the binding calendar. Following the regional election of March 3, 2024, the next regional date is mathematically projected as March 3, 2030, also subject to the official calendar. The last completed general election took place on November 7, 2021, with 3,106 voting centers, 13,459 JRVs, reported participation of 65.26% and 2,921,430 total votes. Municipal elections followed on November 6, 2022, in 153 municipalities, and regional elections took place in the RACCN and RACCS on March 3, 2024. These formal procedures and historical figures do not by themselves establish the quality of political competition. The IACHR and the United Nations assessed the 2021 general election as lacking free, fair and plural conditions and documented exclusion of political competition, arrests of opposition presidential candidates, party exclusions and the absence of independent international observation.