Ethiopia's Electoral System

Electoral System is a system that is followed by a country based on election and representation to establish a government.

There are three major Electoral Systems in the world. These are:

1. Majority System
2. Proportional Representation System and
3. Mixed System

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, in its article 56, declares a Political Party or a Coalition of Political Parties that has the greatest number of seats in the House of People's Representatives shall form the executive and lead it. Also in the Amended Electoral Law of Ethiopia, Proclamation no 532/2007, clearly puts that a Candidate who received more votes than other Candidates within a Constituency shall be declared the winner (Article 25).

Therefore the Constitution and the amended Electoral law emphasize that the country follows the majority system, under which the candidate who receives more votes than any competitors within a constituency is declared the winner.

Types of Elections

Elections conducted in Ethiopia are the following:

1. General Election
2. Local Election
3. By-Election
4. Re-election
5. Referendum

General Elections

1. General Elections shall be elections to the House of People's Representatives or State Councils conducted every 5 Years.
2. General elections shall be conducted throughout the country simultaneously. However, where the Board finds it necessary and decided by the House of Peoples' Representatives, it may conducted at different times.
3. Only a single representative shall be elected to the Federal House of Peoples' Representatives from a constituency.
4. The number of representatives elected to State Councils shall be decided by the constitutions of the respective states. If State Councils decide to change the number of their members, they shall give political parties sufficient time for preparation.

Local Elections

1. Local elections are elections to Zonal, Woreda, City Municipality and Sub-City or Kebele councils conducted in accordance with the law.
2. The number of representatives elected in a constituency for a local election shall be determined by laws of Regional States on the basis of the type of election and the number of seats in each council.
3. The time to hold local elections shall be determined in accordance with the laws of Regional States.
4. Local elections shall be conducted based on regulations and directives issued by the Board in accordance with this Proclamation.

By-election

1. By election shall be conducted:-
   • Where councils at different levels request the Board to replace council members whose mandates are terminated due to various reasons;
   • Where a request for recall lodged in accordance with the law is accepted.
2. Board shall hold by-election in three months from the receipt of the request
3. Without prejudice to the provisions of sub Article (1) and (2) above, no by-election shall be carried out to a council whose tenure terminates after six months.

Re-election

Re-election may be conducted for one of the following reasons:

1. Where the Board decides in accordance with Article 7 (10) of Proclamation 532/2007;
2. Where candidates receive equal votes in accordance with Article 76 (3) of Proclamation 532/2007 and where it becomes difficult to determine the winner.

While conducting re-election:

1. only those voters who had been registered in a constituency or polling stations where irregularities occurred shall be eligible to vote without the need to conduct new voter registration;
2. where it has been decided to conduct re-election in accordance with the provision of Article 1 (a), only those candidates who had been registered earlier shall be eligible to run for the reelection without the need to conduct new candidate registration;
3. Campaigning shall be prohibited.

Particulars of re-election shall be decided by the regulation or directive to be issued by the Board.

Referendum

Referendum is conducted to assess public interest or make decision when decided by a competent body in accordance with the Constitution. The Board, in accordance with the directive given by the body that authorized the referendum, shall hold the referendum by organizing polling stations in a way convenient to execute the referendum.

Particulars shall be determined by the regulation to be issued by the Board.