2019 Mauritanian presidential election

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2019 Mauritanian presidential election
Flag of Mauritania.svg
  2014 22 June 2019 2024  
Registered1,544,132 (Increase2.svg 16.26%)
Turnout62.63% (Increase2.svg 6.17%)
  His Excellency Mohammed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of Mauritania, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, 20 January 2020 (cropped).jpg Biram Dah Abeid.png
Candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Biram Dah Abeid
Party UPR RAG
Alliance Presidential majority Sawab–RAG
Popular vote483,007172,649
Percentage52.00%18.59%

  Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubakar cropped.jpg Kane Hamidou Baba.png
Candidate Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar Kane Hamidou Baba
Party Independent MPR
Alliance TewassoulHATEM+ CVE
Popular vote165,99580,777
Percentage17.87%8.70%

2019 Mauritanian Presidential Election Map.svg
Results by wilaya and moughataa

President before election

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
UPR

President-elect

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani
UPR

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 22 June 2019, with a second round planned for 6 July if no candidate had received more than 50% of the vote. [1] The result was a first round victory for Mohamed Ould Ghazouani who won with 52 percent of the vote. [2] [3] However, opposition rejected the results, [4] calling it "another army coup." [5] On 1 July 2019, Mauritania's constitutional council confirmed Ghazouani as president and rejected a challenge by the opposition. [6]

Contents

With incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz not running, the elections were reported to be the first peaceful transfer of power since the country's independence from France in 1960. [7]

Electoral system

Under Article 26 of the constitution, the president is elected for a five-year term using the two round system. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, a second round is held two weeks later between the two candidates who received the most votes. [8]

Candidacy is restricted to citizens by birth aged between 40 and 75 (on the day of the first round) who have not had their civil and political rights removed. Article 23 also stipulates that the president has to be a Muslim. Article 28 establishes a term limit of two mandates, allowing the president to only be re-elected once. [8]

The election of a new president is required to take place between 30 and 45 days before the expiration of the term of the incumbent president. [8]

Candidates

Campaign

Candidate slogans

CandidateOriginal sloganEnglish translationRef.
In ArabicIn French
Mohamed Ould Ghazouani من أجل الوطنPour la patrieFor the homeland [9]
Biram Dah Abeid التغيير الآنLe changement, c'est maintenantChange now [10]
Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar استعادة الأمل
التغيير الآن وليس غدا!
Ressuciter l'espoir
Le Changement, c'est maintenant et non demain !
Restore hope
Change now, not tomorrow!
[11] [12]

Opinion polls

Polling
firm
Fieldwork
date
Sample
size
His Excellency Mohammed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, President of Mauritania, at the UK-Africa Investment Summit, 20 January 2020 (cropped).jpg Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubakar cropped.jpg Biram Dah Abeid Cropped.jpg mHmd wld mwlwd (2022) (cropped).jpg Kane Hamidou Baba.png Portrait placeholder.svg BlankUndecidedRefused to answer
Ghazouani
UPR
Boubacar
Ind.
Dah Abeid
Sawab–RAG
Maouloud
UFP
Baba
CVE
El Wafi
Ind.
CMERS 15 Jun 20192,05629.5%23.0%9.5%3.7%2.6%2.1%2.0%14.9%12.7%

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Union for the Republic 483,00752.00
Biram Dah Abeid Democratic Alternation Pole 172,64918.59
Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar Independent165,99517.87
Kane Hamidou Baba Coalition Living Together 80,7778.70
Mohamed Ould Maouloud Union of the Forces of Progress 22,6562.44
Mohamed Lemine El Mourteji El WafiIndependent3,6880.40
Total928,772100.00
Valid votes928,77296.04
Invalid votes28,7962.98
Blank votes9,5040.98
Total votes967,072100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,544,13262.63
Source: Constitutional Council

Tables

Results by wilaya
Wilaya Ghazouani Abeid Boubacar Baba Maouloud El Wavi Neutral Null
Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %Votes %
Adrar 16,74368.88%1,5146.23%5,00920.61%2260.93%7513.09%630.26%1780.71%6682.66%
Assaba 47,27568.19%10,70215.44%8,80512.70%9211.33%1,4182.05%2030.29%3050.42%2,4963.46%
Brakna 46,03850.64%10,64311.71%15,94717.54%16,83618.52%1,2911.42%1600.18%1,3501.42%2,7532.90%
Dakhlet Nouadhibou 14,24830.04%15,58732.86%10,71322.59%5,53411.67%1,0752.27%2730.58%4911.00%1,0102.06%
Gorgol 23,59435.95%21,42932.65%3,4515.26%15,19623.16%1,7952.74%1580.24%9371.36%2,4353.53%
Guidimagha 19,45441.69%16,13134.56%4,0218.62%6,46113.84%5291.13%730.16%5731.16%1,9583.98%
Hodh Ech Chargui 75,46381.80%2,8773.12%12,15613.18%3670.40%5940.64%7990.87%3360.35%2,8092.94%
Hodh El Gharbi 52,35075.07%3,4214.91%11,64716.70%6250.90%1,4302.05%2660.38%2430.34%1,8492.57%
Inchiri 5,65960.67%7538.07%2,24424.06%4725.06%1801.93%190.20%940.98%1932.01%
Nouakchott-Nord 29,05539.77%15,00320.54%22,55830.88%2,7763.80%3,1334.29%5340.73%8241.08%2,3683.11%
Nouakchott-Ouest 25,37934.89%20,05527.57%13,46818.51%10,12413.92%3,4144.69%3060.42%1,1641.53%2,3862,386
Nouakchott-Sud 30,88931.39%30,62131.12%18,74219.05%15,05415.30%2,6672.71%4330.44%1,4721.43%3,2033.11%
Tagant 19,46773.47%1,1054.17%4,62217.44%730.28%1,1864.48%440.17%1520.56%5492.02%
Tiris Zemmour 8,77244.07%2,99115.03%5,69028.59%1,8349.21%5392.71%770.39%1740.84%5562.69%
Trarza 65,06857.77%17,15015.23%25,02122.22%2,8082.49%2,3692.10%2110.19%1,1190.96%3,3522.86%
Diaspora3,55335.73%2,66726.82%1,90119.12%1,47014.78%2852.87%690.69%920.90%2112.06%
Total483,00752.00%172,64918.59%165,99517.87%80,7778.70%22,6562.44%3,6880.40%9,5040.98%28,7962.98%
Source: Constitutional Council

Aftermath

Following Ould Ghazouani's declaration of victory, protests were held in Nouakchott, leading to around 100 arrests. [13] The government started to reduce mobile internet services on the day after the elections, with fixed-line internet services ceasing on 25 June; both were fully restored on 3 July. [14]

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References

  1. Mauritania to hold presidential election on June 22 African News, 18 June 2019
  2. Mauritania: Former General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani wins presidential election Deutsche Welle, 24 June 2019
  3. Mauritania's Ghazouani declared presidential vote winner Aljazeera, 24 June 2019
  4. Mauritanian opposition rejects Ghazouani election victory Africa Times, 25 June 2019
  5. ‘Historic’ Mauritanian elections contested by opposition The Arab Weekly, 29 June 2019
  6. Mauritania Constitutional Council Confirms Mohamed Ould Ghazouani as President, VOA, 1 July 2019
  7. Mauritania prepares for historic election as discontent simmers Reuters, 20 June 2019
  8. 1 2 3 "دستور الجمهورية الإسلامية الموريتانية" [Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania]. Parliament of Mauritania (in Arabic). 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  9. "Programme du candidat Mohamed Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Cheikh El-Ghazouani" [Program of [the] candidate Mohamed Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Cheikh El-Ghazouani](PDF) (in French). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  10. "Sous le slogan : « Le changement, c'est maintenant », le candidat Biram DAH ABEID, en orbite pour la présidentielle 2019 (reportage photos)" [Under the slogan: "Change is now", candidate Biram DAH ABEID, in orbit for the 2019 presidential election (photo report)]. Mauriweb.info (in French). Retrieved 2022-09-04.
  11. "استعادة الأمل" [Restore hope] (in Arabic). Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  12. "Ressuciter l'espoir" [Restore hope] (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  13. opposition candidates challenge presidential election result [ dead link ] Reuters, 26 June 2019
  14. Mauritania: Widespread Arrests to Blunt Backlash Over Election Human Rights Watch, 23 July 2019