Themes & Issues by Country
Burkina Faso
As in many African countries, Burkina Faso faces serious challenges to maintaining a reliable database of civil records such as: births, deaths, and marriages. In fact, many people are born and grow up without ever obtaining documentation which supports their citizenship such as birth certificate, even though, citizenship is based on civil records that demonstrate the link between individuals and the State. In Burkina Faso documents which can be used to determine citizenship are birth certificates, judicial orders which are issued to individuals who were unable to obtain birth certificates, or national identity cards…
Chad
The Political Agreement of August 13, 2007 changed several aspects of how voters are registered. Previously, the National Electoral Registration Commission (CNRE), created by the Ministry of Territorial Affairs was in charge of registering voters. However, the impartiality of this institution was questioned which then led to an extension of the CENI’s jurisdiction to include the compiling of electoral lists. Point I.2 of the Agreement and Article 2 of the 020 law governing the creation of the CENI gave it jurisdiction over all electoral operations…
Mali
To be eligible to vote, one must be a Malian citizen and be at least 18 years of age, be registered on electoral lists and maintain the capacity to exercise one’s full civil and political rights. In other words, they must not have been sentenced by a judge such that they lose their civil or political rights…
Mauritania
In Mauritania, three conditions must be met to be registered as a voter on the electoral lists: 1) possess Mauritanian citizenship, 2) be 18 years old or older, and 3) be a holder of a national identity card. Under the former system, electoral lists were made from updated administrative censuses. This task was performed by a four-member committee chaired by the Hakem (highest administrative authority in a sub-region) who has administrative jurisdiction in the area, and a judge who is appointed by a joint decision of the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Justice. The other members of the committee were appointed by the Wali (Governor of a region). The minutes of the committee’s work were kept at the Secretariat of the Moughataa (the Hakem’s Office)…
Niger
Since 2009, the special Committee in charge of electoral lists was in charge of developing lists of voters. This committee works under the authority of the CENI (National Independent Electoral Committee), conducts electoral censuses and to establish and update voter lists. At a decentralized level, there are administrative committees in charge of the electoral lists. They include representatives of political parties, civil society organizations (unions, women’s associations, human rights associations), traditional chiefs, and the State…
Senegal
In Senegal, as in all other countries, to be registered as a voter and to vote in an election you must fulfill a number of conditions clearly defined in the Electoral Code. Senegalese citizens who wish to vote must first of all be registered as voters. As specified in article LO.26 of the Electoral Code, to be registered as a voter a Senegalese citizen must be at least 18 years old, not be deprived of his or her civil and political rights, and hold a digital national identification card that is obtained by paying a fee of 1,000 CFA francs (about 2 US dollars)…
This post is also available in: Français (French)
