At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Nicaragua

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer *
• Head of Government: President Enrique BOLANOS Geyer
• Assembly: Nicaragua has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 92 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government. In order to avoid a run-off, a candidate must obtain 40 percent of the vote or 35 percent conditioned on the fact that s/he has at least a 5-point lead over the nearest rival.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) 90 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** One seat is reserved for the previous president and one seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election. Currently, the Assembly has only 91 seats.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra
  • Party: Sandinista National Liberation Front / Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN)
• Eduardo MONTEALEGRE Rivas
  • Party: Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance / Alianza Liberal Nicaragüense (ALN)
• José RIZO Castellon
  • Party: Liberal Constitutionalist Party / Partido Liberal Constitucionalista (PLC)
• Edmundo JARQUÍN Calderon
  • Party: Sandinista Renewal Movement / Movimiento Renovador Sandinista (MRS)
• Edén Atanacio PASTORA Gomez
  • Party: Alternative for Change / Alternativa por El Cambio (AC)

Last Presidential election:

• The last presidential election was held on 4 November 2001. Enrique BOLANOS Geyer (PLC) was elected president with 56.3%.of votes. He was followed by Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra (FSLN) with 42.3% and Alberto SABORIO (PCN) with 1.4%.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 5,450,217 (2006)
• Registered Voters: 3,665,141 (October 2006)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 2,761,153 (2006)

·         Is Nicaragua a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Nicaragua ratified CEDAW: Yes (27 October 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 17 (following the 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 125 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Medium (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Nicaragua a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Nicaragua ratified CRPD: Yes (7 December 2007)

·         Population with a disability: 817,532 (est.)