Electoral districts of Mauritania

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Mauritania is divided into several electoral districts (Arabic: دوائر إنتخابية) for the election of deputies to the National Assembly, based on the departments of the country, with the exception of the capital city of Nouakchott, where the electoral districts are based on the three regions the city is divided in.

Electoral system[edit]

The 176 members (an increase of 17 members compared to 2018) of the National Assembly will be elected by two methods (with Mauritanians being able to cast four different votes in a parallel voting system); 125 are elected from single- or multi-member electoral districts based on the departments (or moughataas) that the country is subdivided in^[a] (which the exception of Nouakchott, which has been divided in three 7-seat constituencies for this election based on the three regions (or wilayas) the city is subdivided in instead of the single 18-seat constituency that was used in 2018),^[1] using either the two-round system or proportional representation; in single-member constituencies candidates require a majority of the vote to be elected in the first round and a plurality in the second round. In two-seat constituencies, voters vote for a party list (which must contain one man and one woman); if no list receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a second round is held, with the winning party taking both seats. In constituencies with three or more seats, closed list proportional representation is used, with seats allocated using the largest remainder method.^[3] For three-seat constituencies, party lists must include a female candidate in first or second on the list; for larger constituencies a zipper system is used, with alternate male and female candidates.^[3]

It was planned for four seats to be elected by the diaspora, with this election being the first time Mauritanians in the diaspora would have been be able to directly elect their representatives.^[1] However, the new electoral law introducing this was struck down as unconstitutional by the Constitutional Council on 10 February 2023.^[4]

The remaining 51 seats are elected from three nationwide constituencies, also using closed list proportional representation: a 20-seat national list (which uses a zipper system), a 20-seat women's national list and a new 11-seat youth list (with two reserved for people with special needs), which also uses a zipper system to guarantee the representation of women.^[1][3]

Distribution of seats[edit]

Every department gets a set number of seats based on their population.^[5]

Electoral districts[edit]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]