The National Elections Act

This section gives the Act its short title, says certain election provisions must be read with the Constitution, and states that the Act applies to Mainland Tanzania and Tanzania Zanzibar.

This section defines key terms used in the Act, including campaign period, candidate, Commission, election day, and voter.

Commission-made regulations, directives, and notices count as valid if they are signed by the Chairman of the Commission or the Director of Elections.

The section sets out who makes up the Commission and who leads it.

The Chairman, Vice Chairman, or a temporary chairman presiding at a Commission meeting has a vote, and if votes are equal, also has a casting vote.

A meeting of the Commission needs four members to form a quorum, including the Chairman or, if unavailable, the Vice-Chairman or temporary Chairman.

The Commission must provide voters’ education throughout the United Republic and oversee the people who conduct it.

The Commission must divide every constituency into polling districts and publish a notice in the Gazette. It may also change polling districts when constituency boundaries change or when it considers it appropriate.

The President appoints a Director of Elections, and election officials must follow the Director’s directions.

This section assigns Returning Officer roles for constituency elections, lets the Commission appoint Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers, lets a Returning Officer appoint necessary staff, and requires Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers to take a secrecy oath before a magistrate.

Some local officials automatically serve as registration officers, while the Commission can appoint others and a registration officer can appoint needed staff. Registration and assistant registration officers must swear an oath of secrecy before a magistrate.

The Commission may appoint a Regional Election Coordinator during an election, and public officers must help or carry out requested duties for election purposes when asked by specified election officials.

This section is marked repealed.

Some people may be registered as voters only if they meet the age and disqualification rules.

A person cannot be registered as a voter if they fall within listed disqualifying conditions, and a registered voter who later loses qualification must be removed from the Register subject to stated limits.

The Commission must establish a Provisional Voters’ Register to help prepare the Permanent National Voters’ Register.

This section establishes a Permanent National Voters’ Register and assigns the Commission and Director of Elections responsibilities for it.

The Commission must register a person in Tanzania Zanzibar if that person is only entitled to be registered as a voter for the President of the United Republic.

Registered voters may vote in their polling district and assigned polling station, but polling staff must verify identity before allowing voting.

A registered voter whose name has changed may vote under the registered name if not disqualified under section 19.

Registered political parties that want to take part in a Presidential election must submit the names of a Presidential candidate and a Vice-Presidential candidate to the Commission.

A person can be validly nominated as a Presidential candidate only if the nomination is in writing and supported by at least 200 registered-voter nominators from at least 10 regions, including at least 2 regions in Tanzania Zanzibar.

A Presidential candidate must file the required nomination particulars by 4:00 on nomination day, in the form, place, and number of copies the Commission directs.

Presidential candidates must pay a deposit to the Commission when submitting nomination forms; the deposit is forfeited in certain cases and otherwise refunded.

If there is only one validly nominated Presidential candidate, the Commission must declare that person the sole candidate. If that candidate later fails to get more than 50% of the votes cast, the Commission must set another nomination day.

A Presidential candidate may withdraw candidature by giving a signed written notice to the Commission by 4:00 on nomination day.

If there is no validly nominated candidate after 4:00 p.m. on nomination day, or a Presidential or Vice-Presidential candidate dies before the election is determined, the Commission must publish a notice in the Gazette and set a further nomination day.

A person may not become a Parliamentary election candidate or be elected as a Member of Parliament unless qualified under Article 67 of the Constitution.

In a contested election, polling must take place in each polling district on the appointed polling day under the rules in this Part.

The Returning Officer must set up and equip polling stations, appoint polling assistants and presiding officers, display candidate notices and voting instructions, and supply ballot materials and voter registers.

Political parties may appoint polling agents for polling stations, but must give written notice in time; they may also appoint an alternate agent and replace one who dies or becomes incapable.

Ballot boxes must be made so ballots can go in but not out, and the presiding officer must show, seal, and keep the box closed before voting starts.

Every ballot paper must include the candidate’s photo, name or acronym, and party logo if any, must be foldable, and must be attached to a numbered counterfoil.

A voter cannot be forced to say how they voted in proceedings challenging an election result, except where the bona fide conduct of a presiding officer under section 78(3)(b), (c), or (i) is in issue.

This section makes it an offence to give false statements or declarations, make certain duplicate or undisclosed voter-registration applications, or fail to surrender a voter’s card or make a required declaration after being told to do so.

Officials must not use their office to discourage nominations or make nominated people withdraw, and breaches can lead to fines or up to 12 months’ imprisonment.

An election officer who knowingly or willfully mishandles an election process and causes the election result to be nullified commits an offence and may be fined, imprisoned, or both.

If an election officer causes the Government loss, costs, or damages through acts or omissions in relation to the election process, the Public Officers (Recovery of Debts) Act applies to that officer.

For sections 111 and 112, “election officer” includes several named election roles.

This section makes it an offence to tamper with voters’ registers or voter’s cards, and to keep another person’s voter’s card and refuse to return it when demanded.

A Registration Officer who knowingly mishandles registration and jeopardizes the process commits an offence.

Section 116 makes it an offence to forge, destroy, misuse, or interfere with nomination forms, ballot papers, ballot boxes, and related election materials, and to make false nomination statements.

A person must not knowingly publish a statement that a candidate has withdrawn, by utterance, print, or broadcast, if the aim is to help another candidate win.

It is an offence to corruptly induce or procure someone to withdraw as a candidate for an election in return for payment or a promise of payment, and a person who withdraws because of that inducement also commits the offence.

The Commission sets and reviews voter registration timing in each polling district, may suspend registration in a district, and must review the Permanent National Voters’ Register twice in the stated period.

Political parties may appoint registration agents for registration centres, but must notify the registration officer in writing on time and state the agent and centre details.

A person who applies for voter registration under section 21 may be registered for the polling district if the responsible officer is satisfied the person is qualified, and a voter’s card must then be issued.

A voter who moves to another polling district may apply to be registered there, and officials must register the voter and issue a new voter’s card if the stated conditions are met.

A person whose voter’s card is lost, defaced, or destroyed may apply in person for a new card, and the registration staff must issue it if the application is proper, the applicant still qualifies, any required fee is paid, and a defaced card is surrendered.

A voter whose details need amending may apply for a new voter’s card, and election staff must process it if the application is proper and the person still qualifies.

If a voter says their card was lost or destroyed, they must make a declaration in the prescribed form, and the registration officer may refuse the application if they do not.

If a voter-registration application is refused, the officer must give the applicant a written statement of reasons if asked, and the applicant may appeal to the district court within 14 days after receiving that statement.

The Commission must appoint Presidential election day for every constituency, subject to section 46.

Registered voters are entitled to vote in a Presidential election, and the Commission may set conditions for voting at a different polling station.

Chapter IV applies, with necessary modifications, to Presidential candidates.

For presidential elections in each constituency, the ballot is to be conducted like a parliamentary election, with necessary modifications, and sections 47, 48, 51 and Chapter V apply to it.

This section sets when nomination day must be appointed for Parliamentary elections and by-elections, and requires public notice in some cases.

A parliamentary candidate must be nominated in writing by at least 25 registered voters from the constituency, and the nomination papers must be filed with the Returning Officer by 4:00 p.m. on nomination day.

A candidate or one of the candidate’s nominators must lodge a prescribed money deposit with the Returning Officer when submitting the nomination form.

A person must not be nominated as a candidate for election in more than one constituency.

This section sets who may object to a nomination form, the deadline and form for objections, and what the Returning Officer must do before and after deciding the objection.

This section has been repealed.

This section sets out how voting at a polling station must be conducted and what voters, polling agents, and election officials must do.

Section 79 is repealed.

Only voters assigned to the correct polling station may vote there, and access to polling stations is tightly limited to listed officials and other authorised persons.

At a polling station, the presiding officer must warn a person believed or alleged not to be entitled to vote, and may then require proof and declarations before allowing the person to vote.

This section is repealed.

At a polling station, the presiding officer can require a voter to prove identity and sign prescribed declarations before receiving a ballot paper.

If polling at a station is disrupted by riot or open violence while voters still remain, the presiding officer must adjourn the poll until the next day and immediately notify the Returning Officer.

If voters are still present when a polling station closes and have not yet voted, the poll must stay open long enough for them to vote.

The polling agent must be given a final chance to state whether they are satisfied with the voting or have complaints, and the presiding officer must prepare, read, confirm, sign, and submit a complaints report.

Polling agents and alternate polling agents must act as counting agents at the close of the poll and during vote counting; parliamentary or presidential candidates may appoint a counting agent.

A presiding officer may move the count to a nearby appropriate place instead of the polling station if security, space, facilities, or another reasonable cause justifies it.

The presiding officer must keep the vote count going after polling closes, and parties present must state any satisfaction or complaint at each stage.

Only listed people may be present at the counting of votes, and others must not be in the vicinity.

The presiding officer and polling assistants must carry out a set procedure before and during counting of votes at the polling station.

A ballot paper is not counted as a valid vote if it lacks an official mark or is otherwise spoiled, marked to identify the voter, unmarked, or void for uncertainty.

The presiding officer or a polling assistant must mark an uncounted ballot paper as “rejected.”

The presiding officer must prepare a statement of rejected ballot papers, and must let a counting agent copy it on request.

This section is repealed.

Candidates or their counting agents may ask for one or two recounts of votes if they are present when counting finishes.

The presiding officer must decide questions about ballot papers after consulting specified polling participants.

After vote counting, the presiding officer must secure the ballots, prepare and post reports, ask agents or a candidate to record any complaint or satisfaction, give copies if enough are available, and hand the ballot box and results to the Returning Officer.

Sets who may be present during vote counting and what the Returning Officer must do when adding Parliamentary votes.

After a contested election result is ascertained, the Returning Officer must immediately declare the winner, notify the successful candidate, and send a report to the Commission; the Commission must then publish the results and vote totals in the Gazette.

This section is repealed.

The Returning Officer and the Commission must keep election-related documents safely, and they must destroy them six months after election day unless the High Court orders otherwise.

A polling assistant may do what the presiding officer is allowed to do at a polling station if the presiding officer authorises it, but may not order anyone’s arrest or removal from the polling station.

A candidate may do acts the polling agent is authorised or required to do, and may help the polling agent or counting agent do those acts.

If a polling agent, counting agent, or candidate does not attend, that alone does not invalidate an act or thing that is otherwise properly done.

When presidential and contested parliamentary elections are held on the same day in a polling district, polling and vote counting must be handled separately, with distinct ballot boxes and differently coloured ballot papers.

Willfully giving false evidence or making a false statement in a declaration under section 83 is an offence.

People involved at polling stations or vote counting must keep voting secret and not disclose voter or ballot information; violations are offences punishable by a fine or imprisonment.

A person convicted of bribery, treating, or undue influence is liable to a fine, imprisonment, or both.

A person who commits personation, or helps, encourages, or procures personation, commits an offence and may be fined, imprisoned, or both.

People convicted of a corrupt or illegal practice are disqualified for five years from being registered as a voter or voting, unless the conviction is set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Section 124 is marked as repealed.

This section has been repealed.

A person commits undue influence if they use force, threats, injury, abduction, duress, or fraud to make a voter vote, not vote, or interfere with free voting.

A person commits an offence if they bribe, corrupt, or unduly influence a Commission member or officer in relation to an election.

A person commits impersonation at an election if they use another person's name or voter’s card to get or cast a ballot.

This section makes certain voting-related acts corrupt or illegal practices and sets fines or jail terms after conviction.

A person who disrupts a lawful election-related public meeting in order to stop its business commits an offence.

A person must not hold a meeting on election day or near a polling place, or display campaign-support emblems there.

A person must not, without lawful authority, destroy, mutilate, deface, or remove certain notices or inspection documents; doing so is an offence.

Election-related printed materials generally must show the printer’s and publisher’s name and address, and some also need approval from the relevant election authority.

If a court convicts someone of a corrupt or illegal practice under the Act, the court must report it to the Director of Elections, and the Director must remove that person from the voter register if they are registered and notify the relevant Registration Officer in writing.

People may inspect the Provisional Voters’ Register, and the Registration Officer must display it in every ward.

A registered voter with a valid voter’s card may ask the Director of Elections to correct the Provisional Voters’ Register if their name is missing, and the register must be amended if the official is satisfied.

Some people may object to keeping a name on the Provisional Voters’ Register if the person is not qualified, no longer qualified, or dead.

Objections must be made in duplicate in the prescribed form, sent to the Registration Officer within the prescribed time, and usually accompanied by a prescribed deposit.

Section 58 is repealed.

Section 59 is repealed.

If only one candidate is nominated in a constituency, that candidate is treated as elected, and the Commission must announce the result in the Gazette.

Section 61 is repealed.

The Registration Officer must hold a public inquiry into duly made objections and notify the objector and the person concerned at least seven clear days in advance.

An objector or the person objected to may appeal to a district court within 7 days, and the district court must decide the appeal within 14 days.

This section sets the rules for appeals to the district court, including grounds, deposits, hearing procedure, and what happens after the court decides.

The Registration Officer must act as if an appeal had not been refused when a person is added to the Provisional Voters’ Register or issued a voter’s card, and must require a deleted person to surrender the card or deliver a declaration within at least 10 days.

The Commission must appoint election days after nominations and may change them in limited cases.

If there is a contested election, the Returning Officer must publish notice in the constituency about polling details at least 8 days before election day.

The Returning Officer must count and compile Presidential votes, display and submit the constituency results, and give copies of the report to polling agents or candidates. The Commission may order a re-count if accuracy is in doubt and must declare the constituency and national results.

If no presidential candidate gets the most valid votes at the initial ballot, the Commission must appoint another day for the second ballot and publish notice in the Gazette.

If a Presidential candidate is declared elected, the running mate is treated as elected Vice-President.

A candidate may withdraw candidature in writing to the Returning Officer and must include a statutory declaration. The withdrawal must be delivered by the deadline after nomination.

If a candidate dies after 4 p.m. on nomination day and before the poll closes, the Returning Officer must countermand the election, and the Commission must set a new nomination day within 30 days.

If there are no candidates in a constituency after nomination day, the Commission must countermand the election, set a new nomination day within 30 days, and restart the electoral procedure.

The Registrar of Political Parties may object to a candidate, and the Commission may disqualify the candidate, if the candidate has committed a prohibited practice or failed to follow the Election Expenses Act.

In a contested constituency election, the campaign must be organised by the candidate, the candidate’s party, or the candidate’s agent, and the campaign plan must be given to the Returning Officer.

Section 69 is repealed.

Candidates for President and Vice-President and participating political parties may use state radio and television during the official campaign period, subject to subsection (2).

Section 71 is marked as repealed.

This section sets out how women special seats in the National Assembly are filled through political party nominations and the Commission’s declarations.

Section 108 is repealed.

This section limits when an election for Member of Parliament can be challenged and voided by election petition.

This section is repealed.

If a Commission member, officer, or person acting under the Commission’s direction knowingly commits or helps commit bribery, treating, corrupt practices, or illegal practices, they may be imprisoned for up to five years on conviction.

Election petitions must be heard and decided by the High Court, and the Court may require witnesses or other relevant persons to attend.

An election petitioner may have to apply for and pay security for costs, and the Registrar cannot set the hearing date until that security is paid.

A petitioner filing an election petition may claim any of the listed reliefs.

The Court must decide election petition outcomes and certify its decision to the Director of Elections.

The court must certify corrupt or illegal practices to the Director of Elections, and the Director must update voter records and notify the Returning Officer.

Election petitions must be filed within 30 days, and the Court must decide petitions and appeals within 12 months; the Minister responsible for legal affairs may extend the time by up to 6 months in limited cases.

At scrutiny of an election petition, only certain votes may be struck off, including votes cast by unregistered persons, impersonators, multiple voters (except the first identifiable vote), and persons disqualified from voting.

The Chief Justice may make court rules for election petitions and related applications, including procedure, practice, and fees, and rules made under this Chapter must be published in the Gazette.

Section 146 is repealed.

A misnamed or inaccurately described person or place in a relevant register, notice, or document does not affect how the Act operates for that person or place if they are still identifiable.

Election officials may demand information needed to check voter or candidate eligibility, and a person who refuses or unreasonably delays giving lawful requested information commits an offence.

Certain staff must receive reasonable remuneration unless they already hold an office of employment in the service of the United Republic.

Certain election-related expenses must be paid out of the Consolidated Fund.

A notice under the Act is treated as served if it is delivered personally, left at the person's last known address, or sent by registered post to that address.

The Commission may make regulations to carry out this Act and may prescribe forms and declarations.

The Commission must make and publish the Electoral Code of Conduct, and political parties, candidates, the Government, and the Commission must subscribe to it.

An instrument made on oath or affirmation in the prescribed form is exempt from stamp duty.

The Commission may issue general or specific directives about Returning Officers, presiding officers, other employed persons, or any purpose of the Act, but the directives must not conflict with the Act or regulations under section 152.

The Director of Elections may direct that a voters’ register be replaced with a new Register when the Director considers it necessary.

This section repeals the Elections Act No. 25 of 1970.

This section keeps certain election forms, subsidiary legislation, and Commission directions in force by treating them as made under this Act.

This section is omitted.