Presidential elections were held in

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

on 22 June 2019, with a second round planned for 6 July if no candidate had received more than 50% of the vote. The result was a first round victory for

Mohamed Ould Ghazouani Mohamed Ould Cheikh Mohamed Ahmed Ould Ghazouani ( ar, محمد ولد الشيخ محمد أحمد ولد الغزواني; born 4 December 1956), also known as Ghazouani and Ould Ghazouani, is a Mauritanian politician and retired Mauritanian A ...

who won with 52 percent of the vote. However, opposition rejected the results, calling it "another army coup." On 1 July 2019, Mauritania's constitutional council confirmed Ghazouani as president and rejected a challenge by opposition. With incumbent President

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ( ar, محمد ولد عبد العزيز ''Muḥammad Wald 'Abd al-'Azīz''; born 20 December 1956) is a former Mauritanian politician who was the 8th President of Mauritania, in office from 2009 to 2019. A career sold ...

not running, the elections were reported to be the first

peaceful transfer of power A peaceful transition or transfer of power is a concept important to democratic governments in which the leadership of a government peacefully hands over control of government to a newly-elected leadership. This may be after elections or during t ...

since the country's independence from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1960.

Electoral system

Under Article 26 of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

is elected for a five-year term using the

two round system The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...

. If no candidate receives an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, a second round is held two weeks later between the two candidates who received the most votes. Candidacy is restricted to citizens by birth aged between 40 and 75 (on the day of the first round) who have not had their civil and political rights removed. Article 23 also stipulates that the president has to be a Muslim. Article 28 establishes a

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

of two mandates, allowing the president to only be re-elected once. The election of a new president is required to take place between 30 and 45 days before the expiration of the term of the incumbent president.

Candidates

, Union for the Republic. *

Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar ( ar, سيدي محمد ولد بوبكر; born 31 May 1957)
Agence Mauritanienne d'Informa ...

, supported by Tewassoul. * Biram Dah Abeid, Independent. *

Mohamed Ould Maouloud Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam. Muhammad and variations may also refer to: *Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations ...

Union of the Forces of Progress The Union of the Forces of Progress (; ; , UFP) is a social democratic political party in Mauritania. Position The UFP describes itself as a cross ethnic, republican, social justice oriented party. It has made statements against the persecuti ...

, supported by the

Rally of Democratic Forces The Rally of Democratic Forces (french: Rassemblement des Forces Démocratiques, RFD), or Assembly of Democratic Forces, is a political party in Mauritania. It is led by Ahmed Ould Daddah. In October 2000, the Union of Democratic Forces-New Er ...

. * Kane Hamidou Baba, Independent, supported by the Vivre Ensemble coalition. *

Mohamed Lemine El Mourteji El Wafi Muhammad was an Islamic prophet and a religious and political leader who preached and established Islam. Muhammad and variations may also refer to: * Muhammad (name), a given name and surname, and list of people with the name and its variations ...

, Independent.

Campaign

Candidate slogans

Opinion polls

Results

Aftermath

Following Ould Ghazouani's declaration of victory, protests were held in

Nouakchott , image_skyline = Nouakchott.jpg , image_caption = City view of Nouakchott , pushpin_map = Mauritania#Arab world#Africa , pushpin_relief = 1 , mapsize = , map_caption ...

, leading to around 100 arrests. 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.Mauritania: Widespread Arrests to Blunt Backlash Over Election
Human Rights Watch, 23 July 2019

References

{{Mauritanian elections

Presidential Presidential elections in Mauritania

2010s internet outages