Burkina Faso
Description of Electoral System:
(Courtesy of IFES election guide)
The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term. In the National Assembly (Assemblee Nationale) 111 members are elected by popular vote to serve 5-year terms.
Electoral Systems Snapshot
(Courtesy of International IDEA)
*Click on links for definitions
| Electoral System for National Legislature | List PR |
| Type | PR |
| Tiers | 2 |
| Legislature Size (Directly elected, voting members) | 111, 111 |
| Electoral System for President | TRS |
WANT MORE ELECTION-RELATED STATS FOR BURKINA FASO? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.
Most recent election
(courtesy of wikipedia)
The Burkina Faso presidential election of 2005 was held on November 13. The incumbent president Blaise Compaoré was first elected in 1991, and was re-elected in 1998. In August 2005, he announced his intention to maintain his presidency for a third term. Opposition politicians argued that Compaoré could not run in the election because a constitutional amendment passed in 2000 limits a president to two terms. The amendment also reduces the term length from seven to five years. Compaoré's supporters, however, argued that the amendment could not be applied retroactively.
In October 2005 the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was president in 2000, the amendment does not apply until the end of his current mandate, thereby allowing his candidacy in the 2005 election.
Compaoré was widely expected to win. His popularity rating was placed at 61.2%, and of the twelve opposition candidates, his most notable opponent Bénéwendé Stanislas Sankara, the candidate for the Alternance 2005 coalition, has only 5% of the population's support. Eventually, Compaoré received 80.35% of the votes and was re-elected as President.
