All about the local elections on Sunday 23 January 2022

Focus — Wednesday, January 19, 2022

All citizens of Senegal over the age of 18 in full possession of their civil and political rights and registered to vote, will be able to cast their ballot in municipal and departmental elections on Sunday, 23 January 2022.

These two elections, taking place concurrently, are separate and concern two different local levels of government: the municipality and the department.

The municipal elections

Municipal elections are held to elect the members of a municipality’s council. Senegal is home to more than 500 different municipalities. All of them are administered by a mayor and the mayor's deputies. The municipal council may be made up of municipal councillors belonging to the majority as well as municipal councillors belonging to the opposition.

Voting procedure

Further to the amendment of Electoral Code No. 2021-35 of 23 July 2021, for the first time, the mayor will be elected by direct universal suffrage: it is no longer the councillors who will elect the mayor, and instead, the citizens directly.

The municipal councillors are elected:

45% in a single-round majority list system, by full list, without any possibility of combination or preferential votes

55%, by proportional ballot, applying the municipal quotient.

The said quotient is determined by dividing the total number of valid votes cast by the number of councillors to be elected by proportional representation. As many times as this quotient is found in the number of votes received by each list, the more candidates it wins. The balance is then allocated according to the highest remainder principle. In the event of a tie, the seat is awarded to the oldest of the candidates likely to be elected

When municipal councillors are elected by majority vote, in the event of equal votes, the lists of candidates concerned will be ranked by the highest average age (full members and alternates).

The candidates

In municipal elections, citizens vote for candidates by list. The number of councillors to be elected varies according to the size of the municipality. The exact number of municipal councillors can be found in the decree “establishing the number of councillors to be elected to each municipal council and the allocation of seats between the two voting methods.”

Any person eligible to vote in the municipality may be a candidate (subject to Articles L.269 to L.272 of the electoral code), but must be presented by a legally constituted political party or a coalition of legally constituted political parties.

All lists submitted must respect the principle of male-female parity. The candidate lists, both full and alternate, must be composed alternately of persons of both sexes. Where the number of members is odd, the parity is applied to the next lower even number.

The number of council members not residing in the municipality at the time of the election may not exceed one quarter of the total number of council members.

Term of office

Elected councillors commit to a five-year term of office.

Duties

The role of the mayor, deputy mayors and councillors is to administer the municipality.

They are all responsible for securing the best possible living conditions for the entire population, without discrimination. However, each of them also has specific powers and roles.

The mayor holds a number of responsibilities, including overseeing the municipal accounting system, directing works and, more generally, executing the decisions of the municipal council.

The municipal bureau is primarily responsible for drawing up the agenda of the council meetings, monitoring tax receipts and providing assistance to the administrative departments.

The mayor and his deputies make up the municipal office. It is the executive body of the municipality.

The municipal council is the decision-making body. It gives its opinion whenever required by law and regulation, or at the request of the State representative. It may issue written recommendations on all matters of local interest, particularly concerning the municipality's economic and social development. It is kept informed of the progress of works and initiatives financed by the municipality or carried out with its participation.

Departmental elections

Departmental elections are held to elect the département council and its president. Senegal is subdivided into 46 départements, each with its own council, which may be made up of elected representatives from both the majority and opposition parties.

Voting procedure

As with the municipal elections, further to the amendment of the Electoral Code no. 2021-35 of 23 July 2021, for the first time departmental elections will be held by direct universal suffrage.

The département councillors are elected:

45% by a single-round majority list system
55% by proportional representation in the département by full list, without any possibility of combination or preferential votes.

The departmental majority list must include at least one full candidate and one substitute candidate for each municipality, registered to vote in that municipality.

The candidates

In the departmental elections, citizens vote for lists of candidates who, if they win, will become département councillors.

The number of councillors varies according to the demographics of the département. The exact number of département councillors can be found in the decree “establishing the number of councillors to be elected to each département council and the allocation of seats between the two voting methods.”

Any person eligible to vote in the département may be a candidate (subject to Articles L.234 to L.237 of the electoral code), but must be presented by a legally constituted political party or a coalition of legally constituted political parties.

Term of office

Elected councillors commit to a five-year term of office.

Duties

The département council and its President manage the département.

The département is empowered to promote economic, educational, social, health, cultural and scientific development. It may also carry out département development plans and organise regional planning in accordance while respecting the integrity, autonomy and powers of the other local authorities. It may engage in actions that complement those of the State and other local authorities such as the regions.

The département may conclude agreements with the State or with other local authorities or their groupings, in order to carry out actions with them that fall within their remit, in strict keeping with their powers.

It may propose measures to the communes to encourage the coordination of local investment and development initiatives.