Elections in Puntland (Doorashooyinka Puntland)

How Puntland chooses its leaders

• The House of Representatives: Puntland has a single-chamber House of Representatives with 66 members, elected for five years. The 2012 constitution limited the number of political parties to three, and the 2023 amendments were meant mainly to allow more (Constitution of Puntland, via FAOLEX).
• The president: in practice, local elders select delegates, the delegates choose the members of parliament, and parliament elects the president and vice-president (Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia).
• The 2023 change and its reversal: amendments of 25 July 2023 moved to a direct vote for the president. Fighting broke out in Garoowe in June 2023 while parliament debated the change, and a ceasefire was agreed on 21 June (Reuters, 21 June 2023). The direct presidential vote was dropped in November 2023, and parliament again chose the president in January 2024.

For Puntland's institutions, including the Puntland Electoral Commission, see Puntland's institutions. For its presidents, see Presidents of Puntland.

Presidential elections

Sources: Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia; Africanews, January 2019; 2024 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia. Sources differ on whether the 2019 runner-up was Asad Osman Abdullahi or Abdiweli Gaas. In 2019 parliament first elected its Speaker and deputies on 4 January (2019 Puntland presidential election, Wikipedia).

Direct local elections

25 October 2021: three districts. Qardho, Eyl and Ufeyn held Puntland's first one-person-one-vote local council elections, for 87 seats. Of 46,839 registered voters, 61.6 percent voted. Kaah won 35 seats, Mideeye 25, Caddaalada iyo Sinnaanta 20, Horseed 3, Runta iyo Cadaaladda 2, and Mustaqbal and Ifiye 1 each (2021 Puntland municipal elections, Wikipedia).

25 May 2023: 30 districts. The second round covered 30 of Puntland's 33 districts. More than 387,000 voters registered, most of them aged 18 to 30, and 3,775 candidates stood from seven parties. Polling was postponed in three districts, including the capital Garoowe, after security incidents (Africanews, 26 May 2023). Results were announced on 3 June 2023 and sent to the Supreme Court to be certified:

Source: 2023 Puntland municipal elections, Wikipedia. Turnout was 48.1 percent (186,181 votes), and women won 129 of the 774 seats (17 percent) (same source). Opposition politicians accused Deni of shaping the process to extend his mandate (Africanews, as above). The Puntland Development and Research Center has published analyses of the transition (PDRC).

Puntland and the federal elections

• The federal amendments: Puntland has withdrawn recognition of the federal government and rejected the March 2026 constitutional amendments (Africa at LSE, May 2026). See Politics of Somalia.
• Local polls in Sool and Cayn: in February 2026, Puntland's Ministry of Interior called the federal electoral commission's plan for local elections in Sool, Buuhoodle and Galdogob illegal. It said Galdogob had already voted in May 2023 and that the other districts fall under Puntland. The commission then removed Galdogob from its list (AllAfrica / Shabelle, 24 February 2026). Parts of Sool now fall under the North East State; see North Eastern State.
• The 2027 timetable: on 31 October 2026, Deni rejected the federal timetable for the 15 May 2027 presidential vote and called for an interim council to lead the country to elections (Dawan Africa, 31 October 2026).

See Elections in Somalia.

Its legal basis

The Constitution of Puntland, approved on 18 April 2012 and amended on 25 July 2023, together with Puntland's electoral and political parties laws.