Direct elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo occur for the Presidency, National Assembly (lower house of the legislature), and provincial assemblies. The Senate (the upper house), and provincial governors are elected indirectly by members of the provincial assemblies.
Electoral law also provides for the direct election of local councils—commune, sector, and chiefdom—as well as indirect elections for city mayors, city councils, commune burgomasters, and sector chiefs. None of these were held in the first three election cycles under the current system. In the current cycle, as of April 2024, only the election of a limited number of commune councils has occurred.
These elections are run by the Independent National Electoral Commission, often referred to by its French acronym CENI. New elections should be run every five years.
Electoral framework Elections are governed by Electoral Law No. 06/006 of 9 March 2006 as revised by laws in 2011, 2015, 2017, and 2022.* These laws organize presidential, legislative, provincial, city, commune and local elections.
Direct voting system
President Since the 2011 law, the president of the republic is elected by a first-past-the-post, single-round system for a five-year term, renewable only once. The vote is held ninety days before the expiration of the incumbent president's term. The 2006 electoral law previously used a two-round system.
National deputies The electoral law sets the number of seats of the National Assembly to 500 and establishes territories, provincial cities and four groupings of Kinshasa communes as the electoral districts. Before each election cycle the 500 seats are allocated to the districts using a procedure that uses that cycle's voter registration numbers. First allocating seats proportionally to the provinces and then allocating each province's seats proportionally to its districts.
The 500 national deputies are elected for five years, renewable, using first-past-the-post in single-member districts and open list proportional representation in multi-member districts. Each deputy is on a ticket along with two substitutes.République démocratique du Congo – Assemblée nationale. Inter-Parliamentary Union. (in French). Retrieved 23 April 2026. The number of single versus multi-member districts has varied slightly from election to election mostly because of changes to relative voter registration numbers. In the 2018 election there were 62 single member districts and 438 multi-member districts.
The lists are called "open": a voter choosing a party list may cast a preferential vote for a single candidate to raise that candidate's position on the list; the allocation of seats won by the list is then carried out using the "largest remainder" method. At the beginning of December 2017, the government drafted a bill to introduce an electoral threshold of 3%; faced with protests from a large part of the opposition and the political class, this threshold was reduced to 1%. The fee required to submit a candidacy was also increased to about €450, while a decreasing scale was introduced for lists presenting multiple candidates; the goal in both cases being to limit the fragmentation of political parties. On 15 December, the assembly approved this change to the electoral law, but in accordance with Article 118 of this electoral law, candidates obtaining more than half of the votes cast in their constituency are called "exceptionally elected" and automatically obtain a seat, even if their party (or group) does not reach the 1% electoral threshold, without increasing the total number of seats in the constituency. In 2018, ten candidates obtained seats in this way.
Provincial deputies
Provincial assemblies are the unicameral legislatures of the capital Kinshasa and the 25 provinces. The electoral law sets the overall number of these assembly members at 780 and establishes territories, provincial cities and the Kinshasa communes as the electoral districts.
Before each election cycle the 780 seats are allocated to the assemblies using a procedure that uses that cycle's voter registration numbers with each assembly getting from 18 to 48 deputies. For each assembly a number of seats closest to, but without exceeding, 10% of the seats are reserved for the co-option of traditional leaders as deputies. Thus, each assembly will have one to four unelected members. In 2018 there were 715 elected provincial deputies and 65 (9%) co-opted deputies. Those seats for elected members are proportionately allocated to the province's electoral districts according to their voter registration numbers. The voting system for these provincial deputies is the same as for national deputies.
Commune, sector, and chiefdom councillors In 2018 the CENI planned on running council elections in 311 communes, as well as 734 sectors and chiefdoms. Councillors are elected for renewable five-year terms. The voting system is the same as for national deputies. The number of seats in a commune council depends on the voter registration numbers of the commune, as follows:
7 seats for a commune with up to 80,000 voters; 9 seats for a commune with 80,001 to 160,000 voters; 11 seats for a commune with 160,001 to 240,000 voters; 13 seats for a commune with 240,001 to 320,000 voters; 15 seats for a commune with 320,001 voters or more.
For sectors and chiefdoms, the distribution is as follows:
7 seats for a sector or chiefdom with up to 35,000 voters; 9 seats for a sector or chiefdom with 35,001 to 70,000 voters; 11 seats for a sector or chiefdom with 70,001 to 105,000 voters; 13 seats for a sector or chiefdom with 105,001 voters or more.
None of these elections occurred in 2018.
Indirect voting
Senators and governors The Senate consists of 108 members, with four senators per province and eight senators for the city of Kinshasa. They are elected for renewable five-year terms by provincial deputies through proportional representation with open lists and a single preferential vote. Seats are allocated using the "largest remainder" method. Each senator is elected along with two substitutes.
The provincial governor and vice-governor are elected by a two-round majority vote for a five-year term, renewable only once, by provincial deputies (from within or outside the Provincial Assembly). They are officially appointed by order of the president of the republic. The governor and vice-governor are elected on the same ticket.
City councillors Each commune is represented by four city councillors. They are elected by municipal councillors through proportional representation with open lists and a single preferential vote, using the "largest remainder" method, for renewable five-year terms.
Mayors, burgomasters, and sector chiefs According to electoral law, Mayors, burgomasters (commune heads), and sector chiefs, along with their deputies, should be elected on the same ticket by a two-round majority vote, respectively by city, municipal, and sector councillors. Their term is five years and is renewable. As of June 2026 no such elections have been held and these officials continue to be appointed. Note: Chiefdom chiefs are not supposed to be elected but are traditional leaders selected by custom.
Electoral history
Early efforts at political organization The emergence of political parties in the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) occurred relatively late, beginning in 1957, less than three years before independence. Prior to this period, most organized groups were sociocultural or ethnic associations, or networks formed by former students of missionary schools. These organizations generally showed little interest in political matters, particularly in seeking or exercising political authority. However, during the 1957 municipal elections, some of these associations evolved into political platforms supporting emerging leaders.
The first municipal elections organized by the Belgian colonial administration were held in 1957, primarily in major cities to establish local governance structures led by indigenous mayors and municipal councillors. In Léopoldville (now Kinshasa), these elections were widely boycotted, and ABAKO, favored by the colonial authorities, secured a decisive victory by winning 8 of the 10 municipalities and 120 of the 170 council seats. These elections were marked by a strong reliance on ethnic affiliation in candidate nominations and selection, which entrenched political mobilization along ethnic and regional lines. As a result, parties such as the National Unity Party (Parti de l'unité nationale; PUNA) drew most of their support from Équateur, the African Mutual Party (Parti Solidaire Africain; PSA) from Kwango, ABAKO from Bas-Congo, Centre du Regroupement Africain (CEREA) from Kivu, and BALUBAKAT from Katanga. This pattern was primarily shaped by the delayed rise of nationalism, the vast territorial expanse that hindered nationwide party organization, and the restrictive colonial regime, which tolerated only social and cultural associations while repressing genuine political and nationalist movements.
The 1960 electoral process
During the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference held in Brussels in January and February 1960, Congolese political leaders agreed on the organization of municipal elections in March and national elections in May of the same year. However, in their determination to secure independence for the Belgian Congo, political actors allowed little time for adequate preparation, which resulted in elections conducted under difficult material and psychological conditions. The Fundamental Law laid out the institutional framework of the newly independent state, establishing a bicameral parliament composed of a Chamber of Representatives with 117 members elected by universal suffrage and a senate of 87 members chosen by provincial assemblies at a rate of 14 per province. The president of the republic was to be elected indirectly by the senate. At the provincial level, elected assemblies and provincial governments were also planned.
The 1960 elections were characterized by trivial political competition and highly populist campaign promises, such as the abolition of taxes or labor obligations after independence. Electoral competition was heavily influenced by ethnic and regional considerations. In Katanga, BALUBAKAT mobilized around ethnic exclusivism; Congolese National Movement-Lumumba (MNC-L) and LUNC allied against Congolese National Movement-Kalonji (MNC-Kalonji), which was largely supported by Baluba from Kasaï; ABAKO was dominated by the Bakongo; CEREA drew its base from the various ethnic groups of Kivu; and PUNA relied mainly on voters from Équateur. In the national legislative elections, the MNC-L secured the most significant number of seats with 36 deputies, followed by ABAKO with 12, while the remaining seats were distributed among other parties. These results led to the formation of the first government under Prime Minister Patrice Émery Lumumba on 21 June 1960. In the subsequent presidential vote, Joseph Kasa-Vubu was indirectly elected by the senate with 159 votes, defeating Jean Bolikango, who received 44 votes, while 11 ballots were declared invalid. From 30 June 1960, the day following independence, widespread disorder engulfed the country and rendered the newly created institutions ineffective. The ensuing crisis persisted until 1965 and was driven by Lumumba's assassination, the collapse of negotiations at the Lovanium Conclave, convened to unite political forces under Cyrille Adoula, the fragmentation of the state, and the repeated failures of the governments led by Joseph Iléo and Cyrille Adoula.
The 1965 electoral process