Elections in Benin

The electoral rules in Benin are based primarily on Constitution Law 2025-20 (Constitution Loi 2025-20) and Electoral Code Law 2019-43 (Code électoral Loi 2019-43), as amended by Law 2024-13. The Constitution provides seven-year terms for the president, deputies (députés) and municipal councillors (conseillers communaux). A president may serve no more than two terms during their lifetime. General elections (élections générales) comprise simultaneous legislative and municipal elections. The presidential election follows. Under the Constitution, the first election is scheduled for the second Sunday in January, the presidential election for the second Sunday in April and a possible second round for the second Sunday in May. In 2026, the parliamentary and municipal elections took place on 11 January, the presidential election on 12 April and the possible second round on 10 May. The Constitutional Court (Cour constitutionnelle) definitively declared Kossi Mbueke Romuald Wadagni and Mariam Chabi Talata president and vice-president in decision EP26-002; they took office on 24 May 2026. As a rule, voters must be Beninese citizens who are at least 18 years old on the date of the first round in the election year and who retain their civil and political rights. Exclusions may include foreigners, people finally convicted of a crime, people serving a prison sentence of at least three months with or without a fine, people tried in absentia, non-rehabilitated insolvent debtors and people whose right to vote or stand for election has been withdrawn by a court. An unintentional offence generally does not lead to exclusion. After serving a sentence and being rehabilitated, re-registration may be possible. The computerized electoral list (Liste électorale informatisée, LEI) is the only national digital voter list with photographs. The National Agency for the Identification of Persons (Agence nationale d’identification des personnes, ANIP) creates it on the basis of the National Register of Natural Persons (Registre national des personnes physiques, RNPP), which is fed by RAVIP as well as biometric and personal data. The list also includes voters at Beninese embassies and consulates. Registration generally depends on residence in the relevant village or urban neighborhood; for public servants, their official place of residence may be decisive. People registered at a diplomatic or consular representation use that channel. Repatriated persons may vote only if they were previously registered. A change of residence requires a transfer with proof of identity and residence. Corrections, registrations and deletions are requested during the public display period from the municipal register officer (responsable du registre communal) and forwarded to the ANIP. The provisional LEI for parliamentary and municipal elections must be available at least 120 days before election day; the public display lasts at least 15 days. The final LEI is also displayed for 15 days. Under the electoral rules, a polling station may contain no more than 600 voters. Because of the institutional reorganization, it must be checked again before future elections which body will perform these tasks and which deadlines will apply. On election day, the name must appear on the competent list. A valid identity document is also required. Anyone without a valid document may obtain an NPI certificate (certificat NPI) from the ANIP. Voting takes place only at the assigned polling center or polling station (centre de vote or poste de vote); choosing another polling place freely is not provided for. The election is universal, direct, equal and secret. Benin uses a single ballot (bulletin unique) with symbols and pictures. The ballots are held in a block containing 25 detachable, consecutively numbered ballots; no envelope is used. The voter shows their identity document, has the registration checked, takes one ballot themselves, marks their choice, folds the ballot, shows one fold and puts it into the ballot box themselves. The left thumb is then marked with ink. General opening hours are 07:00 to 16:00, and 07:00 to 17:00 for combined elections. Anyone already in the queue before closing may still vote. People with disabilities may use an assistant of their choice. Proxy voting (procuration) is available only to legally defined groups. These include security and public servants outside their place of residence, people with proven professional or family impediments, hospitalized or housebound sick people, and severely disabled people or people with certain impairments. The authorized representative must be eligible to vote and belong to the same list. In the presidential election, candidates run as pairs consisting of a president and a vice-president. The majority system has two rounds. If no pair obtains an absolute majority in the first round, the two highest-placed pairs enter the second round. Presidential candidates must be between 40 and 70 years old when taking office, have acquired Beninese nationality at birth or for at least ten years, enjoy full civil and political rights and possess good character (bonne moralité) and high integrity (grande probité). Three doctors appointed by the Constitutional Court must certify their physical and mental health. At the time of filing, the candidate must reside in Benin. Anyone who has already served two presidential terms may not run again. A presidential candidacy requires support from at least 15 percent of all deputies and mayors in at least three-fifths of the legislative constituencies. A deputy or mayor generally runs only on their own electoral list unless there was a prior agreement on joint governance. The candidacy must be filed 180 days before the first round. The nomination deposit (cautionnement) is CFA 25,000,000; reimbursement is possible from at least ten percent of the votes, within no more than 30 days after the final proclamation. The National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) consists of 109 deputies in 24 constituencies (circonscriptions). Of these, 85 seats are regular seats and 24 are women’s seats, with one women’s seat per constituency. Seats are allocated proportionally according to the electoral quotient and the highest-average method. A list generally needs at least 20 percent of the valid votes in each constituency. For calculating the threshold, votes of parties receiving at least ten percent nationally may be added within a parliamentary coalition. A list must stand in all constituencies. Candidacies must be filed 60 days before the election. The deposit for each titular candidate equals five percent of the permitted campaign expenditure. In the 2026 parliamentary elections, 7,834,608 people were registered and 2,878,726 voted. Turnout was 36.74 percent. The Constitutional Court confirmed 60 seats for UP-R and 49 seats for BR; the deputies took office on 8 February 2026. Municipal councils are elected directly through lists. Access generally requires a national threshold of ten percent. Seat allocation takes population, the municipal quotient and proportional distribution into account; each arrondissement district (arrondissement) receives at least one seat. In a single-seat arrondissement, the list with the most votes wins. Where there are several seats, a list with an absolute majority or at least 40 percent receives the majority of the seats, while the remaining seats are allocated using the highest-average method. Lists below ten percent are excluded. The party with an absolute majority on the council appoints the mayor and deputy mayors. If there is no such majority, a municipal governance agreement (accord de gouvernance communale) may be concluded; otherwise, the council votes by secret ballot. The arrondissement chiefs (chefs d’arrondissement) are chosen from among the councillors. A village chief or neighborhood chief (chef de village or chef de quartier) is appointed by the party with the highest number of votes that is both eligible to vote and holds seats. Until 2026, the central electoral bodies included the permanent administrative election structure (CENA), the Electoral Council, the General Directorate of Elections (Direction générale des élections, DGE) and the technical-operational DGE. The ANIP prepared and transmitted the LEI. The CENA organized election materials, election staff, candidacies and provisional results for parliamentary and presidential elections; for municipal elections, it established the final results. The Constitutional Court reviewed presidential and parliamentary elections and proclaimed their final results. The Supreme Court (Cour suprême) decided municipal election disputes. The Court of Auditors (Cour des comptes) reviewed campaign financing. This allocation of responsibilities has been under restructuring since 2026. Law 2026-14 (Loi 2026-14) of 14 July 2026 repealed Title II of Book One of the Electoral Code concerning the CENA structure. Decree 2026-456 (Décret 2026-456) of 22 July 2026 regulated the retention of CENA assets and the liquidation of its obligations. A successor electoral authority has not yet been clearly identified in the official sources reviewed. Therefore, responsibility, transfer of the LEI, complaint address, election calendar, candidacy deadlines and fees must be checked again against official texts before every future election. The count begins at the polling station and proceeds through the village or neighborhood, arrondissement and central levels. In combined elections, a polling station committee consists of one president and two assessors per ballot box. Candidates and lists may monitor voting, counting and the tallying of votes. Observations belong in the official record (procès-verbal). A copy of the counting sheet (feuille de dépouillement) is posted at the polling place and given to representatives who are present. Three sealed election documents are forwarded; transport and completion should take place no later than the following day. Delays, missing official records or signatures, ballot-box stuffing and contradictory pictograms were among the documented risk patterns of the 2026 election. The Constitutional Court nevertheless assessed the identified disruptions as local and not outcome-changing for the election as a whole. In a presidential election, a candidate must submit a written complaint to the Constitutional Court within five days after the provisional proclamation. The court decides on such a challenge within ten days; if the election is annulled, a new round takes place within 14 days. Parliamentary election challenges may be brought by candidates or registered voters of the relevant constituency within ten days after proclamation. Municipal complaints are submitted in writing directly or through the court, mayor, arrondissement chief, prefect or competent ministry to the Supreme Court. They have no suspensive effect, and the decisions are not subject to further appeal. If an election is annulled, the applicable deadlines for a replacement election apply. Campaign financing is subject to maximum amounts of CFA 1,500,000 per candidate in municipal elections, CFA 30,000,000 per candidate in parliamentary elections and CFA 2,500,000,000 in the presidential election. A budget estimate must be submitted to the Court of Auditors at least 40 days before the election. The final accounts must be filed no later than 60 days after the final results. After publication, an objection period of 15 days applies. Excess spending may be referred to the public prosecutor. Election-procedure records are free of charge.