Elections in Yemen

Yemeni citizens aged 18 or older have the formal right to vote, subject to the statutory waiting period for some naturalized citizens. Each voter has one vote and may not register more than once. Registration is linked to the voter's residence, main workplace or family address. Voters generally use a voter card, identity document or another official photo document. Permanent voter lists are reviewed and updated every two years, with a legal text providing for review at least four months before an election is called. Public display of the lists lasts five days. A person can request a correction through the registration committee, then the first-instance court and the appeal court. The legal framework and older electoral references differ on some registration deadlines, so the applicable legal version must be checked when an election is actually scheduled. The SCER is the constitutional electoral management body. Its formal duties include preparing and supervising elections and referendums, defining electoral districts, maintaining voter lists, appointing polling committees, distributing materials, providing voter information and overseeing results. The commission has seven members with six-year terms under Law No. 13/2001. The formal system provides for secret, free, direct and equal voting, but current nationwide access is not assured because of conflict, territorial division, institutional fragmentation, displacement, security conditions and uncertainty about documents and voter registers. The availability of registration offices and polling locations may differ by area. No statutory voter fee has been identified, although transport, documents, security and access can create practical costs. The House of Representatives has 301 seats elected in single-member constituencies by relative majority, commonly called first-past-the-post. A tied result is decided by lot, and the parliamentary mandate lasts six years. A House candidate must be Yemeni, at least 25 years old, literate, of good conduct and free from a final conviction for dishonesty. Candidates may run with party certification or independently; an independent candidate needs endorsements from at least 300 registered voters. A poster fee of 5,000 YER applies, and certain public officials face a three-month cooling-off period before standing. The president is elected by a direct, competitive popular vote. At least two candidates are required, and a candidate needs an absolute majority of valid votes. If no candidate reaches that threshold, the two leading candidates proceed to a runoff within 40 days. Constitutional nomination requires endorsement by at least 5% of attendees in a joint House and Shura Council process and at least three names. Presidential eligibility includes Yemeni parentage, an age of at least 40 and political and civil rights, together with the other constitutional conditions. Campaign donations may come only from Yemeni natural or legal persons through a bank account; foreign funding is prohibited. The presidential term is seven years, with a maximum of two terms under the Constitution. Local elections concern governorate and district councils and use secret, free, direct and equal voting. Local elections were last held in 2006; later nationwide local polling has not been evidenced, although elections were due in 2012. The Shura Council has 111 appointed members and therefore does not provide an elected mandate. The 2022 transfer of power to the Presidential Leadership Council was an appointment or transfer arrangement, not a popular election. Voting uses paper ballots. No national electronic voting system has been evidenced, and no advance or absentee voting method has been evidenced for House or local elections. Polling committees seal ballot boxes, count ballots at each box and aggregate results by constituency, with candidate or agent presence provided for in the procedure. The SCER is to announce final results within 72 hours. A cancelled or incomplete election may require a supplementary election within three months. Challenges to parliamentary results must be filed within 72 hours with the Supreme Court and require a 50,000 YER deposit. Presidential challenges also have a 72-hour period and a 100,000 YER deposit. Local result challenges must be filed within 48 hours with the governorate appellate court and require a 10,000 YER deposit. A valid local challenge can lead to re-election within 60 days. The last House election took place on 27 April 2003. It recorded 8,035,721 registered voters, 6,105,696 voters and 76% turnout; the results included 238 GPC seats, 46 Islah seats, 8 YSP seats, 4 independent seats, 3 Nasserite seats and 2 Baath seats, with one woman elected. The last presidential election took place on 21 February 2012. Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was the sole candidate, with 10,243,364 registered voters, 6,660,093 voters and 99.8% of valid votes. The current electoral calendar remains unresolved, and an inclusive negotiated political process is still required for a nationally functioning electoral system.