2019 Mauritanian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 22 June 2019, with a second round planned for 6 July if no candidate had received more than 50% of the vote.[1] The result was a first round victory for Mohamed Ould Ghazouani who won with 52 percent of the vote.[2][3] However, opposition rejected the results,[4] calling it "another army coup."[5] On 1 July 2019, Mauritania's constitutional council confirmed Ghazouani as president and rejected a challenge by opposition.[6]

2019 Mauritanian presidential election

22 June 2019
1,544,132 registered voters 50%+ votes needed to win
Turnout	62.66% (6.2%)
Candidate Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Biram Dah Abeid Party UPR Independent Popular vote 483,007 172,649 Percentage 52.00% 18.59%   Candidate Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar Kane Hamidou Baba Party Independent Independent Popular vote 165,995 80,777 Percentage 17.87% 8.70%
President before election Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz UPR Elected President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani UPR

With incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz not running, the elections were reported to be the first peaceful transfer of power since the country's independence from France in 1960.[7]

Candidates

• Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Union for the Republic.
• Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, supported by Tewassoul.
• Biram Dah Abeid, Independent.
• Mohamed Ould Mouloud, Rally of Democratic Forces.
• Kane Hamidou Baba, Independent, supported by the Vivre Ensemble coalition.
• Mohamed Lemine al-Mourtaji al-Wafi, Independent.

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Mohamed Ould Ghazouani	Union for the Republic	483,007	52.00
	Biram Dah Abeid	Independent	172,649	18.59
	Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar	Independent	165,995	17.87
	Kane Hamidou Baba	Independent	80,777	8.70
	Mohamed Ould Mouloud	Rally of Democratic Forces	22,656	2.44
	Mohamed Lemine al-Mourtaji al-Wafi	Independent	3,688	0.40
Total			928,772	100.00
Valid votes			928,772	96.04
Invalid/blank votes			38,300	3.96
Total votes			967,072	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,544,132	62.63
Source: AMI

Aftermath

Following Ould Ghazouani's declarationof victory, protests began were held in Nouakchott, leading to around 100 arrests.[8] The government started to reduce mobile internet services on the day after the elections, with fixed-line internet services ceasing on 25 June; both were fully restored on 3 July.[9]

References

1. Mauritania to hold presidential election on June 22 African News, 18 June 2019
2. Mauritania: Former General Mohamed Ould Ghazouani wins presidential election Deutsche Welle, 24 June 2019
3. Mauritania's Ghazouani declared presidential vote winner Aljazeera, 24 June 2019
4. Mauritanian opposition rejects Ghazouani election victory Africa Times, 25 June 2019
5. ‘Historic’ Mauritanian elections contested by opposition The Arab Weekly, 29 June 2019
6. Mauritania Constitutional Council Confirms Mohamed Ould Ghazouani as President, VOA, 1 July 2019
7. Mauritania prepares for historic election as discontent simmers Reuters, 20 June 2019
8. opposition candidates challenge presidential election result Reuters, 26 June 2019
9. Mauritania: Widespread Arrests to Blunt Backlash Over Election Human Rights Watch, 23 July 2019