AU and IGAD publish conflicting reports on Ethiopia's election voter turnout and party participation
via The Reporter Ethiopia1 min read
Preliminary reports from the African Union AU and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development IGAD on Ethiopia's seventh national elections show conflicting statistics. IGAD reported 54 million registered voters, while the AU stated 50.5 million. The Ethiopian Government Communication Service, through EnatalemMeles, claimed 57 million voters went to the polls. The AU report also noted the National Election Board of Ethiopia NEBE initially targeted 40 million voters. Discrepancies also appeared in the number of participating political parties, with IGAD listing 42 and the AU citing 47. The AU observer mission, led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, indicated that voting did not occur in Tigray and parts of the Oromia and Amhara regions due to security and operational challenges. IGAD's mission only highlighted security challenges in the Amhara region. The AU report mentioned "special voting arrangements for members of the military, security services and internally displaced persons IDPs are scheduled for 8 June 2026," a detail not announced by the NEBE, which stated most registered voters had cast ballots. The AU mission attributed inactivity at 6,400 polling stations across 46 constituencies to insecurity, which limited access to registration services for some communities.
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by The Reporter Ethiopia.
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