Elections in Central African Republic

The electoral system is governed by the Constitution of 30 August 2023, the Electoral Code, Law 24.007 of 2 July 2024, Organic Law 25.002 of 5 February 2025 and additional rules for the 2025 elections. The Autorité Nationale des Élections, or ANE, is an administratively and financially autonomous election authority. It registers voters, receives and formally checks candidacies, organizes polling, consolidates results and publishes provisional results. The ANE has 11 commissioners, including at least four women, and operates through 140 local and consular structures. The election cycle held on 28 December 2025 combined presidential, legislative, regional and municipal elections for the first time. A second round for legislative seats and partial regional and municipal elections followed on 26 April 2026. Faustin-Archange Touadéra was confirmed as President in 2026, and newly elected members of the National Assembly took office on 30 June 2026. Presidential elections use direct universal suffrage and a two-round majority system. The President serves a renewable seven-year term. The National Assembly has 144 seats, with one member elected per constituency through a two-round majority system. Candidates for the Assembly must be at least 18 and meet additional requirements, including Central African nationality by origin, university-level education and restrictions affecting former armed-group members. Regional elections choose members of seven regional councils with 184 seats. They use direct, single-round majority voting, with each sous-préfecture serving as a constituency; the two candidates with the most votes are elected. Municipal elections cover communes and the arrondissements of Bangui. They use closed proportional lists that must be fully parity-based and alternate women and men. Voters cannot change the order of candidates or select individual candidates through panachage or preferential voting. A voter must be a Central African citizen, be at least 18 when registered, retain civil rights and appear on the final voter list. Registration, corrections and transfers take place through ANE centres and tablet-based agents. The register was revised from 24 November 2024 and closed on 23 August 2025 after work in 3,910 registration centres across three stages covering 11 prefectures, nine prefectures and the diaspora. The final list contained 2,398,158 registered voters, including 1,145,752 women and 1,252,406 men. Citizens could vote abroad in 15 countries through consular ANE structures, with 65 polling stations listed in the organizational arrangements. On election day, a voter may present a voter card with a photograph, a registration receipt, a national identity card, a military card, a passport or a driving licence. The ANE provides an online tool for checking voter-list and voter-card information. At a polling station, the bureau consists of a presiding officer and four assessors; after polling closes, two scrutineers assist with the count. Officials check identity against the register, apply indelible ink, provide a secret ballot paper and place the folded ballot in a sealed box. People with disabilities, older people, pregnant women and breastfeeding women receive priority access. Monitoring reported register checks at 99% of polling stations and ballot-paper reconciliation at 90% of stations. Candidates face different financial and procedural conditions. The presidential deposit was 15,000,000 FCFA and was refundable only when a candidate obtained at least 5% of valid votes. The legislative deposit was 250,000 FCFA. The 2025 candidacy filing period ran from 2 to 11 October, and the campaign ran from 13 to 26 December; reliable amounts for regional and municipal candidacies are not established in the available research. Electoral information comes from the ANE, SMS messages, Radio Guira FM, 23 community radio stations, national and private media and civil-society education. The High Constitutional Court monitors campaign media coverage and allocates public broadcasting time by draw. Rumours, disinformation and limited online regulation remain information risks. Security arrangements use the Integrated Election Security Plan and involve the Central African Armed Forces, police, gendarmerie and MINUSCA. Remote areas and conflict-affected border regions create the main access risks, and an attack on ANE personnel in Ouham-Pendé was documented in 2024. After voting, officials count ballots at the polling station, candidate or party representatives sign the official minutes, representatives receive copies and a copy is displayed at the station. The minutes then travel to the data-processing centre in Bangui, where the ANE consolidates and publishes provisional results. Challenges follow the legal procedures; the Constitutional Court handles central disputes concerning candidacies and elections. MINUSCA supports security but does not count ballots or announce results.