2020 Zanzibari general election

General elections were held in Zanzibar on 28 October 2020 alongside the Tanzanian general elections to elect the President and National Assembly of the Semi-autonomous state of Zanzibar.[1] Voters elect the president, Zanzibar House of Representatives and local government councillors. By convention, the election was held on the last Wednesday of October and is supervised by the Zanzibar Election Commission.[2]

2020 Zanzibari general election
28 October 2020
Presidential election
 
Candidate Hussein Mwinyi Seif Sharif Hamad
Party CCM ACT–Wazalendo
Popular vote 380,402 99,103
Percentage 77.98% 20.31%
Politics of Tanzania
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Incumbent president Ali Mohamed Shein was ineligible to be elected to a third term because of term limits and stepped down as president on 3 November.[3] The president of Zanzibar is the third highest position in the Union government of Tanzania.

Background

Elections in Zanzibar have often been contentious. The ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi has maintained a government within the isles since independence and has never lost an election. The opposition has continually accused the government of cheating their way through the elections and almost every election has resulted in post-election violence.[4] Said violence in 2015 was most heated after the electoral commission's controversial annulment of the elections, citing irregularities. A rerun was held in 2016, however, but the opposition had boycotted the election, giving the ruling party a landslide victory.

The total number of voters registered was 448,482, a decrease of 55,300 from the 2015 elections. It was estimated that almost 120,000 voters were unable to register due to Zanzibar ID Document requirements.[5]

Presidential candidates

Chama Cha Mapinduzi
See also: 2020 Chama Cha Mapinduzi presidential primaries

With incumbent president Ali Mohamed Shein constitutionally bared for a third term, the CCM ticket for presidency was hotly contested.[6] Dr Hussein Mwinyi won the nomination against 31 candidates at the CCM party congress held on July 20, 2020.[7]

Opposition

Seif Sharif Hamad, will be running for a 6th time for the presidency of Zanzibar, however, under the Alliance for Change and Transparency ticket after he left Civic United Front in March 2019.[8] ACT-Wazalendo held their central committee elections on 5 August 2020. The party's 420 central committee members nominated Seif Hamad with 99.76% vote as the Zanzibar presidential candidate. Hamad ran unopposed and only 1 member of the committee cast a vote against Mr Hamad.[9]

Results

President
CandidatePartyVotes%
Hussein MwinyiChama Cha Mapinduzi380,40277.98
Seif Sharif HamadAlliance for Change and Transparency99,10320.31
Othman Rashid KhamisChama Cha Kijamii2,2350.46
Said Issa MohammedChadema1,7020.35
Mussa Haji KomboCivic United Front1,4280.29
Hamad Rashid MohammedAlliance for Democratic Change9960.20
Juma Ally KhatibTanzania Democratic Alliance3920.08
Said Soud SaidAlliance for Tanzania Farmers Party2850.06
Ally Omar JumaChama cha Ukombozi wa Umma2490.05
Hamad Mohamed IbrahimUnited People's Democratic Party1810.04
Khamis Fakhi MgauNational Reconstruction Alliance1600.03
Mwalimu Hussein JumaTanzania Labour Party1420.03
Amour Hassan AmourDemokrasia Makini1330.03
Mfaume Khamis HassanNational League for Democracy1220.03
Shafi Hassan SuleimDemocratic Party1060.02
Mohamed Omar SuleimanUnion for Multiparty Democracy1040.02
Issa Mohamed ZongaSauti ya Umma1020.02
Total487,842100.00
Valid votes487,84297.81
Invalid/blank votes10,9442.19
Total votes498,786100.00
Registered voters/turnout566,35288.07
Source: NBS, Mwananchi

House of Representatives
PartySeats
ElectedWomenNominatedTotal
Chama Cha Mapinduzi4618468
Alliance for Change and Transparency4004
Tanzania Democratic Alliance0011
Attorney General and Speaker––22
Total5018775
Source: NBS

See also

References
  1. "Averting Violence in Zanzibar's Knife-edge Election". Crisis Group. 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  2. "Zanzibar Electoral Commission - Electoral Commissions Forum of SADC Countries". www.ecfsadc.org. Archived from the original on 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  3. "Shein: My successor will assume a better Zanzibar". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  4. "Averting Violence in Zanzibar's Knife-edge Election". Crisis Group. 2019-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  5. Hamad, Maalim Seif Sharif (2020-06-17). "OPINIONISTA: Tanzania's October elections will be neither free nor fair unless urgent reforms are introduced". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  6. "Race for Zanzibar Presidential race hots up as Mbarawa joins". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  7. "Pundits, politicians react to Mwinyi choice for Z'bar polls". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  8. "Why I'm running for the Zanzibar presidency, again". African Arguments. 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  9. "Membe to face Magufuli in October polls as ACT presidential". The Citizen. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
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