Elections in Tanzania

The national election process is called Uchaguzi, and the general election is Uchaguzi Mkuu. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC or Tume Huru ya Taifa ya Uchaguzi, manages the Union presidential and parliamentary elections, the voters’ register, constituency boundaries, Tanzania Mainland councillor elections, voter education and observer accreditation. The Zanzibar Electoral Commission, ZEC or Tume ya Uchaguzi ya Zanzibar, manages the Zanzibar presidential election, the House of Representatives, councillors and the Zanzibar voters’ register. This dual administration matters because Zanzibar has its own executive and legislature within the Union structure. A general election is held every five years. The 2025 election had 272 constituency parliamentary seats, including 222 in Tanzania Mainland and 50 in Zanzibar, and 3,960 wards. The register contained 37,655,559 voters and the country used 99,911 polling stations. Zanzibar’s register included 725,876 voters registered by ZEC and 278,751 voters registered only by INEC. These figures describe the 2025 election and can change in later elections. A voter must be a Tanzanian citizen aged at least 18, registered in the Permanent National Voters’ Register and assigned to the relevant constituency, ward and polling station. The voter presents the voter card; a NIDA identity card alone does not replace it. The register is updated twice between general elections to add people who have reached voting age, record movers, correct details and remove deceased voters. Registration and voting fees were not evidenced in the reviewed official material. The President and Vice-President are elected as one ticket. A presidential candidate must be a Tanzanian citizen by birth, at least 40 years old, a party member and party nominee, and meet the parliamentary qualification requirements. Parliamentary and councillor candidates must be Tanzanian citizens, at least 21 years old, able to read and write Kiswahili or English, and nominated by a political party while meeting the statutory nomination, support and deposit rules. For the 2025 election, the deposits were TZS 1,000,000 for a presidential candidate, TZS 50,000 for a parliamentary candidate and TZS 5,000 for a councillor. Presidential candidates also could not have a tax-evasion conviction during the previous five years. Tanzania mainly uses first-past-the-post voting: the candidate with the highest number of valid votes wins. This applies to the President and Vice-President ticket, constituency members of Parliament and Tanzania Mainland councillors. Women’s special seats use proportional allocation after the presidential and parliamentary results, and a party generally needs at least 5% of valid parliamentary votes to receive such seats. Voting uses paper ballots. At an ordinary polling station, a voter presents the card, confirms the register entry, follows the Presiding Officer’s instructions, marks the ballot and leaves after voting. Ordinary polling stations generally operate from 07:00 to 16:00; prison and training stations generally operate from 08:00 to 15:00. Permitted assistance is available where accessibility requires it. Candidates, party agents, accredited observers, election officials and authorized security personnel may be admitted under the applicable rules. The 2025 process used manual counting and did not report an electronic voting, counting or results system. After polling closes, the station becomes the counting place or the ballots move to a consolidated nearby counting site. Ballots remain separated by polling station. Agents and candidates can challenge the accuracy of a count and request a recount. Station forms are issued or posted and transmitted to INEC, which aggregates constituency returns and certifies the presidential result through the final form. A tie can lead to a repeat election within a maximum of 30 days. The President assumes office no later than seven days after declaration. The Prime Minister is not elected separately: the President appoints a constituency member of Parliament from the majority party, or a member with majority support, within a maximum of 14 days, and the National Assembly confirms the appointment by majority vote. Nomination objections must be submitted in writing within the applicable statutory deadlines. Appeals against parliamentary or councillor nomination decisions go to INEC within 24 hours. A polling-day procedural complaint is submitted in writing to the Presiding Officer through a polling agent, while ethics complaints generally have a 72-hour period. Election petitions and court proceedings depend on the office and governing law. Under Article 41(7), a presidential result declared by INEC is excluded from court inquiry. Political parties and candidates also follow the Electoral Code, including coordinated campaign schedules, prohibitions on weapons, hate speech and incitement, and duties to respect electoral integrity.