Elections in Somalia: how voting and selection work (Doorashooyinka Soomaaliya)

In short

Somalia has chosen its leaders in four different ways:

• 1956 to 1969: multi-party, one-person-one-vote elections.
• 1969 to 1991: a military government with one legal party.
• 2000 to 2022: an indirect system in which clan elders named delegates, the delegates chose members of parliament, and parliament elected the President.
• Since 2024: new laws bring back direct voting. It started with local and state elections in 2025 and 2026.

For the bodies involved, see Federal Parliament, Members of the Federal Parliament and Independent commissions, which covers the electoral commission. Somaliland and Puntland run their own elections: see Elections in Somaliland and Elections in Puntland.

Elections before 1969

Italian Somaliland, the Trust Territory under Italian administration, held local elections in 1954 and 1958 and parliamentary elections in 1956 and 1959. British Somaliland held parliamentary elections in 1959 and 1960 (Elections in Somalia, Wikipedia). After the two territories united in 1960, voters approved the constitution in a referendum on 20 June 1961. There were 1,756,216 votes in favour (90.6 percent) and 183,000 against. In the former British Somaliland, the Somali National League called for a boycott, and about 60 percent of the roughly 100,000 votes cast there were against (1961 Somali constitutional referendum, Wikipedia).

Sources: 1964 election, Wikipedia; 1969 election, Wikipedia. After the 1969 vote most members from smaller parties joined the Somali Youth League. The army took power on 21 October 1969 (same source). See The civilian era, 1960 to 1969.

Under the military government, 1969 to 1991

The Supreme Revolutionary Council banned all political parties in 1969. The 1979 constitution set up a People's Assembly, chosen in 1979 and 1984 with the Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party as the only legal party (Elections in Somalia, Wikipedia). On 23 December 1986 Siad Barre, the only candidate, was confirmed as President with 4,887,592 votes for and 1,486 against, given as 99.97 percent (1986 Somali presidential election, Wikipedia).

The delegate system, 2000 to 2022

From the Arta conference of 2000 to the 2022 vote, there was no popular vote for national office. Seats in the House of the People were shared out by the "4.5" formula: 61 seats each for the Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Rahanweyn (Digil and Mirifle) clan families, and 31 for other communities (Rift Valley Institute, 2023). Clan elders named delegates, the delegates elected the member for each seat, and the new parliament elected the President.

In the 2021 to 2022 round:

• Upper House: state assemblies chose the 54 senators between 29 July and 13 November 2021. Women won 13 of the 54 seats.
• House of the People: voting ran from 1 November 2021 to 31 March 2022, well past the deadlines set.

Source: 2021 to 2022 Somali parliamentary election, Wikipedia. The two houses then elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as President on 15 May 2022. In the third round he won 214 votes, against 110 for the outgoing President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmaajo" (2022 Somali presidential election, Wikipedia).

The 2024 election laws

In 2024 parliament passed three election laws, which set up the following:

• The commission: the National Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (NIEBC), chaired by Abdikarim Ahmed Hassan.
• The voting rules: a national electoral law for one-person-one-vote.
• The parties: a Political Parties law, approved in a joint sitting with 177 votes in favour and one abstention (SONNA, November 2024; AllAfrica, November 2024).

The cabinet had approved the bills in August 2024 (Garowe Online). Under the law, the commission sends results to the Supreme Court for a final ruling. The 2024 constitutional amendments provided for a direct presidential vote, but the amendments of 4 March 2026 returned the choice of President to parliament, kept the Upper House chosen by state leaders and made the House of the People directly elected (ConstitutionNet, April 2026; see Constitution of Somalia). They also extended the terms of parliament and the President from four years to five. Without the amendments, parliament's term would have ended on 16 April 2026 and the President's on 15 May 2026 (Africa at LSE, May 2026).

Direct votes in 2025 and 2026

Sources: Gulf Times, December 2025; Dawan Africa, Banadir councillors sworn in, April 2026; Dawan Africa, South West, 14 May 2026; Dawan Africa, Galmudug rerun, 2 October 2026; Dawan Africa, Hirshabelle, 3 October 2026. The Banadir seat counts come from one report.

• Banadir: key opposition parties boycotted the Mogadishu vote and said they would not recognise the results. (Hornreview, December 2025).
• Galmudug, first vote: the first Galmudug vote on 30 July 2026 covered 11 districts and more than 270,000 registered voters, for 243 local council seats and 89 assembly seats (Dawan Africa, July 2026).
• Galmudug, annulment: on 24 August 2026 the Supreme Court annulled that vote. It found that breaches of the constitution and election laws had affected the outcome, and ordered new elections (Dawan Africa, August 2026).
• Galmudug, after the rerun: the court approved the rerun results on 13 October, and the new assembly elected Liban Ahmed Hassan as state president on 22 October.
• Hirshabelle: the parties accepted the results. The new assembly re-elected Ali Abdullahi Hussein "Guudlaawe" as state president on 24 October 2026 with 81 votes (Dawan Africa).
• North East State: in April 2026 the commission set a vote for 30 June 2026 (Dawan Africa, April 2026). No result had been published by November 2026.

The 2027 national timetable

On 15 October 2026 the electoral commission announced the following (Dawan Africa, October 2026):

The opposition Somali Future Council, formed in late 2025, rejects the March 2026 amendments and the term extension. Its members include former presidents and prime ministers and the leaders of Puntland and Jubaland. In June 2026 it proposed its own model, in which voters would elect members of parliament and parliament would elect the President. In later talks, the Somali Future Council and two other groups put a one-person-one-vote model to the UK, US, EU and UN and agreed there would be no return to indirect elections. The government says only a one-person-one-vote election will be held. Puntland and Jubaland have withdrawn recognition of the federal institutions (same sources; Africa at LSE, May 2026).

In early November 2026, five judges of the Supreme Court's Constitutional Division ruled that the terms of the President, parliament and federal government had ended, and asked political leaders to agree an electoral model within 30 days. The Attorney General's office said the ruling had no legal effect because the Chief Justice had not chaired the panel; opposition groups backed it. Ibrahim Idle Suleiman was sworn in as Chief Justice on 7 November 2026 (Dawan Africa, November 2026). See Somalia's courts.

How to vote

• Register: voters register in their district with the electoral commission, which issues a voter card. In 2025 it registered 918,890 people across Mogadishu's 16 districts (Dawan Africa, 2025).
• Choose a party: voters choose among parties' candidates. In Mogadishu more than 1,600 candidates stood for 390 council seats (Gulf Times, December 2025).
• Complaints: complaints about the vote go through the commission and then the Supreme Court.

Its legal basis

Chapter 6 and Article 111G of the 2012 Provisional Constitution, as amended in 2024 and 2026; the National Electoral Law, the Political Parties law and the law setting up the electoral commission, all passed in 2024.