AFRICAN ELECTIONS DATABASE
Home | About the Database | Terms & Definitions | Election Calendar | Election Chronology | Recent Elections | Electoral Authorities | Sub-National Elections | Freedom/Democracy/Human Rights | Site Updates | Links
Elections in Eritrea
 
Political Profile
Political System: One Party State & Transitional Government
President: Isaias Afwerki (PFDJ) [since 24 May 1993; elected 1993] The President is elected by the National Assembly.
National Assembly [unicameral] (150 Seats) Term limits not established. Note: In May 1997, following the adoption of the new constitution, 75 members of the PFDJ Central Committee (the old Central Committee of the EPLF), 60 members of the 527-member Constituent Assembly, that had been established in 1997 to discuss and ratify the new constitution, and 15 representatives of Eritreans living abroad were formed into a Transitional National Assembly to serve as the country's legislative body until countrywide elections to a National Assembly were held; although only 75 of 150 members of the Transitional National Assembly were elected, the constitution stipulates that once past the transition stage, all members of the National Assembly will be elected by secret ballot of all eligible voters; National Assembly elections scheduled for December 2001 were postponed indefinitely.
Political Situation since Independence
1993-     One Party State (PFDJ) & Transitional Government
2012 Freedom House Rating: Political Rights - 7, Civil Liberties - 7, Status: Not Free
Next Scheduled Presidential Election: N/A
Next Scheduled National Assembly Election: N/A
Political Parties: PFDJ - People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (authoritarian)
 
Election Results
 
 
23-25 April 1993 Independence Referendum*/** [Detailed Results]
Ballot Question: Are you in favor of Eritrea becoming an independent, sovereign State?

Registered Voters

1,173,706

Total Votes w/Tendered Votes
(Voter Turnout)
Total Votes


1,156,280 (98.5%)
1,102,410

Invalid/Blank Votes

          328

Total Valid Votes

1,102,082

Results Number of Votes % of Votes
"Yes" Votes 1,100,260 99.83%
"No" Votes 1,822 0.17%
*The voter turnout figure includes the nearly 54,000 tendered ballots that were cast in the referendum, but further details, such as the yes/no distribution of these votes is not available. The remaining figures exclude the tendered ballots cast, in line with the majority of sources providing statistics on the referendum.
**A report by the United Nations, which oversaw the referendum process, cites results that differ slightly from those in the table above (published by the Referendum Commission of Eritrea - RCE). A side-by-side comparison of the figures can be found here.