At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Burkina Faso

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Blaise COMPAORE
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Tertius ZONGO
• Assembly: Burkina Faso has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) with 111 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with the approval of the parliament.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) 111 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

*** There is one nationwide, multi-member, constituency with a district magnitude of 15 and 13 multi-member constituencies with district magnitudes ranging form 2 to 10.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Blaise COMPAORE
  • Party: Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) / Congrès pour la Démocratie et le Progrès
• Hama Arba DIALLO
  • Party: Party for Democracy and Socialism / Parti pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme
• Bénéwendé Stanislas SANKARA
  • Party: Union for Rebirth / Sankarist Movement / Union pour la Renaissance / Mouvement Sankariste (Unir-PS)
• Francios KABORE
  • Party: Party for Democracy and Progress / Socialist Party / Parti pour la Démocratie et le Progrès / Parti Socialiste (PDP/PS)
• Pargui Emile PARE
  • Party: People's Movement for Socialism/Federal Party / Mouvement du peuple pour le socialisme/Parti federal (MPS/PF)
• Boukary KABORE
  • Party: N/A
• Maxime KABORE
  • Independent(s)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 15,746,232 (July 2010 )
• Registered Voters: 3,239,777 (November 2010 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 7,895,197 (2010)

·         Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Burkina Faso ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (14 October 1987)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 13 (following 2007 parliamentary elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 183 (2014)

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

Disability Data:

·         Is Burkina Faso a signatory to CRPD: Yes (23 May 2007)

·         Has Burkina Faso ratified CRPD: Yes (23 July 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 2,361,934 (est.)