Electoral systems

Electoral systems (1) Elections to the office of President shall be conducted directly, under a majoritarian electoral system, where the winning candidate must receive more than fifty percent of the valid votes cast, and in accordance with Article 101. (2) Elections to the National Assembly shall be conducted under a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system, as follows: (a) first-past-the-post electoral system for Members of Parliament contesting for constituency-based seats; and (b) proportional representation electoral system for women, youths and persons with disabilities, as prescribed. [clause (2) substituted by section 2(a) of Act 13 of 2025] (3) Elections to councils shall be conducted under a mixed-member proportional representation electoral system, as follows: (a) first-past-the-post electoral system for mayor or council chairperson; (b) first-past-the-post electoral system for candidates contesting for ward-based seats; and (c) proportional representation electoral system for a specified number of women, youths and persons with disabilities, as prescribed. [clause (3) substituted by section 2(a) of Act 13 of 2025] (4) The seats under the proportional representation electoral system, referred to in clause (2) (b) and (3) (c), shall be distributed, as prescribed, after a general election, by the Electoral Commission, to political parties, in proportion to the total number of valid votes received by a presidential candidate. [clause (4) inserted by section 2(b) of Act 13 of 2025] (5) A constituency and a ward shall return only one member to the National Assembly and council, respectively. [clause (5), previously paragraph (4), renumbered by section 2(c) of Act 13 of 2025] [Article 47 inserted by section 4 of Act 2 of 2016]