General elections were held in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
on 6 November 2016 to elect 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 ...
, the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
and members of the
Central American Parliament. Incumbent President
Daniel Ortega of the
Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto Cé ...
(FSLN) was re-elected for a third consecutive term amid charges he and the FSLN used their control of state resources to bypass constitutional term limits and hamstring political rivals. The FSLN benefited from strong economic growth and relatively low levels of crime compared to neighbouring countries.
According to the official results, Ortega was reelected with more than 70% of the votes. However, the election was questioned by the opposition due to the dismissal of sixteen opposition deputies months prior to the election and the complaints of both electoral fraud and voter intimidation.
Background
Four months before the elections, the Nicaraguan Supreme Court removed the disputed
Independent Liberal Party (PLI) leader
Eduardo Montealegre
Eduardo Montealegre Rivas (born 9 May 1955) is a Nicaraguan politician. He ran for president in the 2006 general election as the candidate of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN-PC) a split-off of the Constitutional Liberal Party (PLC) in allia ...
from office, decreeing that
Pedro Reyes was the leader of the PLI. After 16 deputies from the PLI and its
Sandinista Renovation Movement
The Sandinista Renovation Movement (''Movimiento Renovador Sandinista'' or MRS, in Spanish) is a Nicaraguan political party founded on 21 May 1995. It defines itself as a democratic and progressive party, made of women and men, which promotes the ...
ally objected, the Supreme Electoral Council ordered them removed from the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
and empowered Reyes to select their replacements.
Electoral system
The
President of Nicaragua was elected using
first-past-the-post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
voting system.
The 90 elected members of the National Assembly were elected by two methods; 20 members were elected from a single nationwide constituency, whilst 70 members were elected from 17 multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 2 to 19 seats. Both types of election were carried out using
closed list proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
with no
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
. A further two seats were reserved for the runner-up in the presidential election and the outgoing president (or their vice president).
Lists of candidates to the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
and to the
Central American Parliament had to be composed of 50% male and 50% female candidates.
Conduct
In June 2016 Ortega announced international observers would not be allowed to oversee the elections. The
Carter Center
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He and his wife Rosalynn Carter partnered with Emory University just after his defeat in the 1980 United States presid ...
termed this "an attack on the international community... We...lament this decision to ignore a key portion of Nicaragua's own electoral law." However, less than two weeks before the elections, the
Organization of American States accepted an invitation to send a delegation "to meet with experts and state bodies involved in the electoral process" from 5–7 November.
According to the official results, Ortega was reelected with more than 70% of the votes. However, the election was questioned by the opposition due to the dismissal of the opposition deputies, the lack of international observers and the complaints of both electoral fraud and voter intimidation.
Results
President
Ortega was widely expected to win due to the popularity of his social programmes and because he faced no obvious political challenger.
Nicaragua leader Daniel Ortega wins third consecutive term
BBC
National Assembly
List of elected deputies
Central American Parliament
References
{{Nicaraguan elections
Presidential elections in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
2016 in Nicaragua
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...
November 2016 events in North America
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results