At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Benin

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Thomas Boni YAYI
• Head of Government: President Thomas Boni YAYI
• Assembly: Benin has a unicameral National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) with 83 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
• In the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) 83 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Seats are split into 24 multi-member constituencies creating a low district magnitude.

Main Candidates in the First Round of the Presidential race:

• Thomas Yayi BONI*
  • Coalition: Union pour la majorité présidentielle plurielle
• Adrien HOUNGBEDJI**
  • Party: Democratic Renewal Party / Parti du renouveau démocratique (PRD)
• Abdoulaye BIO-TCHAN
  • Party: N/A
• Salifou ISSA
  • Party: Union for Relief / Forces Cauris pour un Bénin Emergent (UPR)

* Union pour la majorité présidentielle plurielle is made up of 80 minor parties and 150 civil society groups.
** HOUNGBEDJI leads the opposition coalition, Union fait la Nation (UFN).

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 9,056,010 (July 2010 est.)
• Registered Voters: 3,668,558 (April 2011 )