Côte d'Ivoire
Electoral Institution
Independent Electoral Commission
Population:
26,176,510
Eligible Voting Population:
6,268,113
Minimum Voter's Age:
18
Political Regime
Presidential with a unicameral National Assembly. The President of Côte d'Ivoire is elected by a two-round majority first-past-the-post ballot for a five-year term renewable once consecutively. The National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Cote d'Ivoire. It is composed of 255 seats elected for five years by a first-past-the-post system. For the senatorial elections, two thirds of the 99 members of the Senate are indirectly elected by an electoral college of local and national elected officials, while the remaining third is appointed by the President.
Number of Political Parties:
130
Number of Election Held
General elections : 12 (1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2010, 2015, 2020) Parliamentary elections : 14 (1957, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2011, 2016, 2020) Senatorial elections : 1 (2018) Regional elections : 2 (2013, 2018) Departmental elections : 1 (2002) Municipal elections : 13 (1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2018, 2023) Referendums : 3 (1958, 2000, 2016)
When are the Next Elections?
General elections: October 2020 Parliamentary elections: 2021
Formely a French colony, the country gained its independence on 7 August 1960, under the leadership of Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the first President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire. On 20 June 1990 the France-Africa summit in La Baule fostered the transition to multiparty system. After President Houphouët-Boigny’s death in 1993, Henri Konan Bédié won the presidential elections in October 1995 and was overthrown in a coup on December 1999. After rebel soldiers’ occupation of almost 60 per cent of the territory, the country faced a civil war between the north and the south. On 17 October 2002, a ceasefire was found in Lomé. In November 2010 presidential election were held but results were contested. The two candidates Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara self-declared their victory. The United Nations alongside the French army launched a military operation that remove Laurent Gbagbo from power. Ouattara was proclaimed president and re-elected on 25 October 2015.