At Stake in this Election:

• 50 seats in the Kuwaiti National Assembly

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: Amir Sheikh MISHAL al-Ahmad al-Sabah (since 16 December 2023)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Sheikh MOHAMMAD Sabah Al Salim Al Sabah (since 4 January 2024)
• Assembly: unicameral National Assembly (Majlis al-Umma / مجلس الأمة) with 65 seats

Electoral System:

• The Amir (أمير) is a monarch selected from within the ruling Al-Sabah family.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the Amir.
• In the National Assembly, 50 members are directly elected by plurality vote from multi-seat constituencies. The remaining 15 members—who serve in the cabinet—are appointed by the Amir. All members serve 4-year terms.

Last Election:

In the snap National Assembly election of 2023, independent candidates won all 50 seats.

Information for Voters:

الاستعلام عن مكان تصويت الناخب / Voting location inquiry (in Arabic, currently unavailable)

New/Unique in this Election:

After the snap election of 2023, the National Assembly passed a new election law that called for the establishment of an independent election commission (the Ministry of Justice currently organizes elections as per the election law of 1995).  On 15 February 2024, the Amir dissolved the National Assembly, alleging that members had made offensive and disrespectful statements.  The Kuwaiti Constitution requires snap elections to be held within two months of parliamentary dissolution, so the government issued a decree postponing the implementation of the 2023 election law to October 2024 and establishing temporary election procedures similar to those of the 1995 law.  The 2024 decree also establishes separate voting times for elections held during Ramadan. Additionally, the decree includes a key element of the 2024 law, allowing individuals convicted of crimes to run for public office once they have served their sentence or received amnesty.

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate filing deadline: 4-13 March 2024

Main Candidates in this Election:

Political parties are illegal in Kuwait, so all candidates officially run as independents. However, there are assembly blocs linked to larger movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism.

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 4,268,870 (2022)
• Registered Voters: 793,646 (as of June 2023)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 1,672,930 (2022)
• CEDAW Status: Ratified (by accession) 2 September 1994
• Gender Quota:  No
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 2 out of 65 (3.1%) in the National Assembly
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.847, Very High, Rank 49 (2022)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Not available

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Ratified (by accession) 22 August 2013
• Projected population with a disability: 683,019 (2022)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in Kuwait: No
• Election Access: Yes
• Election Judgements: Yes, 3 resources