An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. 2023 African election calendar
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organisations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.
The global use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern representative democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens, where the elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot.
Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results). Election is the fact of electing, or being elected.
To elect means “to select or make a decision”, and so sometimes other forms of ballot such as referendums are referred to as elections, especially in the United States.
Country | Election | Date |
---|---|---|
Benin | National Assembly | Held 8 Jan 2023 |
Cameroon | Senate | Due Mar 2023 |
Central African Republic | Local | Due 16 July 2023 |
Comoros | Island Governors | Due 2023 |
Côte d’Ivoire | Local | Due 2023 |
Democratic Republic of Congo | President, National Assembly, Provincial Assemblies, local/ commune councils | Due 20 Dec 2023 |
Djibouti | National Assembly | Due 24 Feb 2023 |
Egypt | Local | Due 2023 |
Gabon | President | Due Aug 2023 |
House of Representatives & Senate | Due Oct 2023 | |
The Gambia | Local | Due May 2023 |
Ghana | District, Local & Unit | Due Dec 2023 |
Guinea | Local | Due 2023 |
Guinea-Bissau | People’s National Assembly & Senate | Due 4 June 2023 |
Liberia | President, House of Representatives & Senate | Due 10 Oct 2023 |
Libya | Presidential & Parliamentary | Due 10 Oct 2023 |
Local | Due 2023 | |
Madagascar | President & Local | Due Nov 2023 |
Mali | Local | Due June 2023 |
Mauritania | Sep National Assembly, Regional & local | Due Sep 2023 |
Mozambique | Local | Due 11 Oct 2023 |
Nigeria | President, House of Representatives & Senate | Due 25 Feb 2023 |
State Assemblies & Governors | Due 11 Mar 2023 | |
Rwanda | Chamber of Deputies | Due Sep 2023 |
Sierra Leone | Paramount Chief Member of Parliament | Due 20 May 2023 |
President, Parliament & Local | Due 22 Jun 2023 | |
Somaliland (autonomous) | Presidential | Due mid 2023 |
South Sudan | President, National Assembly, local | Due 2023 |
Sudan | Presidential, Coucil of States, National Assembly, State Legislatures, State Governors, local | Due Jul 2023 |
Swaziland | Senate, House of Assembly, Urban local, Tinkhundla | Due Sep 2023 |
Togo | Legislative & Regional | Due 31 December 2023 |
Tunisia | House of Assembly | Held 29 Jan 2023 (runoff) |
Local | Due 2023 | |
Zimbabwe | President, Senate, House of Assembly & local | Due July/ August 2023 |