IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Rwanda

Republic of Rwanda

12,794,412	11
Population (as of Feb. 8, 2019)	Elections in our database
6,897,076	96.82%
Registered Voters (as of Aug. 4, 2017)	Average Turnout

Name	Official Name	Type
Rwandan Senate	Sénat	Upper House
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	Chambre des Députés	Lower House
Rwandan Presidency	None	Head of State

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Paul KAGAME
Head of Government: Prime Minister Anastase MUREKEZI
Assembly: Rwanda has a bicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) consisting of the Senate (Sénat) with 26 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés) with 80 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 7-year term.
Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
In the Senate (Sénat), 12 members are indirectly elected by regional governing councils to serve 8-year terms, 8 members are appointed by the President to serve 8-year terms, 4 members are appointed by the Political Organizations Forum to serve 8-year terms and 2 members are selected by Institutions of higher learning to serve 8-year terms*. In the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés), 53 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 27 members are indirectly elected by special interest groups to serve 5-year terms.**

* Thirty percent of all indirectly elected Senators must be female. 12 members are elected in accordance with the national administrative entities. 4 members are designated by the Political Organizations Forum, and 2 university lecturers, of at least the rank of Associate Professor or a researcher, are elected by the academic and research staff of public universities and institutions of higher learning. The eight members appointed by the President are chosen to represent historically marginalized communities.

** Party-lists can contain no more than 80 candidates. Twenty-seven members are indirectly elected. Twenty-four seats are reserved for women, two are elected by the National Youth Council, and one is elected by the Federation of the Associations of the Disabled. Parties and candidates must also choose a symbol that will be placed on the ballot next to the name. The symbol must not be similar to one previously used and cannot be comprised of a combination of the three colors of the national flag.

Elections

Election For	Date	Votes	Registered Voters	Turn Out
Referendum	2003-05-26	3,472,200	3,863,965	89.86
Rwandan Presidency	2003-08-25	3,812,567	3,948,749	96.55
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	2003-09-29	3,818,603	3,958,058	96.48
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	2008-09-15	4,697,689	4,752,540	98.85
Rwandan Presidency	2010-08-09	5,049,302	5,178,492	97.51
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	2013-09-16	5,881,874	5,953,531	98.8
Referendum	2015-12-18	6,285,353	6,392,867	98.32
Rwandan Presidency	2017-08-04	6,769,514	6,897,076	98.15
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	2018-09-02	-	-	-
Rwandan Presidency	2024-07-15	-	-	-
Rwandan Chamber of Deputies	2024-07-15	-	-	-

Voter Turnout

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