At Stake in this Election:  

• Up to 550 seats in the House of People's Representatives. 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: President Taye Atskeselassie AMDE (since 7 October 2024) 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Abiy AHMED (since 2 April 2018) 

• Assembly: bicameral Federal Parliamentary Assembly (የፌዴራል ፓርላማ ምክር ቤት) comprised of a House of the People's Representatives (የኢ.ፌ.ዲ.ሪ የህዝብ ተወካዮች ምክር ቤት) that seats up to 550 individuals, and a House of Federation (የፌዴሬሽን ምክር ቤት), which currently seats 153. 

Electoral System: 

• The President is indirectly elected by the legislature. The House of People's Representatives nominates the candidate and the candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote in both Houses to secure the Presidency. Presidents serve 6-year terms and may be elected a maximum of twice.  

• The Prime Minister is selected from the House of People's Representatives and is the leader of the majority party or coalition. 

• Members of the House of People's Representatives are directly elected via a first past the post system. At least 20 seats of the total of 550 are reserved for minority nationalities and peoples. Members serve 5-year terms with no term limits.  

• Members of the House of Federation are selected by State Councils, or by direct election organized by State Councils. Each “Nation, Nationality, and People” of the country receives at least 1 representative in the House of Federation, with an additional member allocated for every 1 million in population of that group (Article 61.2 of the Constitution). Members serve 5-year terms. 

Last Election: 

The last election for the Ethiopian House of People's Representatives was held on June 21, 2021.  

Information for Voters: 

እንዴት መምረጥ ይቻላል? /  How to Choose? (in Amharic) 

New/Unique in this Election: 

Voter registration procedures were updated to include digital registration options ahead of this election. 

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 24 February 2026 

• Voter registration deadline: 22 April 2026 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• All Ethiopian Unity Organization / የመላው ኢትዮጵያ አንድነት ድርጅት  

• Balderas for Genuine Democracy / ባልደራስ ለእውነተኛ ዴሞክራሲ  

• Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party (Ezema) / የኢትዮጵያ ዜጎች ለማኅበራዊ ፍትህ ፓርቲ  

• Ethiopian Democratic Union / የኢትዮጵያ ዴሞክራቲክ ኅብረት  

• Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum (Medrek) / የኢትዮጵያ ፌዴራላዊ ዴሞክራሲያዊ አንድነት መድረክ  

• Ethiopian National Unity Party / የኢትዮጵያ ብሔራዊ አንድነት ፓርቲ  

• Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party / የኢትዮጵያ ሕዝባዊ አብዮታዊ ፓርቲ  

• Ethiopian Social Democratic Party / የኢትዮጵያ ሶሻል ዴሞክራቲክ ፓርቲ  

• Freedom and Equality Party / ነፃነትና እኩልነት ፓርቲ  

• Gogot for Gurage Unity and Justice Party / ጎጎት ለጉራጌ አንድነት እና ፍትህ ፓርቲ  

• Hidase Party / ህዳሴ ፓርቲ  

• National Bayto Abbay Tigray / ብሔራዊ ባይቶ ዓባይ ትግራይ  

• National Movement of Amhara / የአማራ ብሔራዊ ንቅናቄ  

• New Generation Party / አዲስ ትውልድ ፓርቲ  

• Ogaden National Liberation Front / የኦጋዴን ብሔራዊ ነፃነት ግንባር  

• One Ethiopia Democratic Party / አንድ ኢትዮጵያ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ  

• Oromo Federalist Congress / የኦሮሞ ፌዴራላዊ ኮንግረስ  

• Oromo Liberation Front / የኦሮሞ ነፃነት ግንባር  

• Prosperity Party / ብልፅግና ፓርቲ  

• Raya Rayuma Democratic Party / ራያ ራዩማ ዴሞክራሲያዊ ፓርቲ  

• Wolayta People’s Liberation Movement / የዎላይታ ህዝብ ነጻነት ንቅናቄ  

• Wollo Peoples Democratic Party / የወሎ ህዝቦች ዴሞክራያዊ ፓርቲ 

Country Context: 

• Population: 132,059,767 (2024 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 50,514,155 (2026 est.) 

• V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index Score: 0.26 (2025) 

• V-Dem Regimes of the World Classification: Electoral Autocracy (2025) 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.497, Low, Rank 180 (2023) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 65,892,477 (2024 est.) 

• CEDAW Status: Signed 8 July 1980, Ratified 10 September 1981 

• Gender Quota: n/a 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 202 out of 482 (41.9%) in the lower house and 32 out of 75 (42.7%) in the upper house 

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 39.8 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 7 July 2010 

• Projected population with a disability: 21,129,563 (2024 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• ElectionJudgments: Yes, one judgment