2026 Legislative and Municipal Elections: CENA publishes list of documents required for candidacy
The National Autonomous Electoral Commission (CENA) made public, on Thursday, July 24, 2025, the official list of documents constituting the application files for the parliamentary and communal elections scheduled for 2026 in Benin.
SUMMARY
This decision marks a key stage in the preparation process for the double ballot.
For the legislative elections
Political parties are required to provide, for each candidate list, the following elements:
A physical candidate declaration in duplicate, specifying the candidates’ names, surnames, profession, date and place of birth, complete address and the color, symbol or logo of the party;
A dematerialized candidate database created using the software provided by CENA;
A receipt proving the deposit of 1,500,000 FCFA per main candidate, making a total of 163,500,000 FCFA to be paid to the Deposits and Consignments Fund;
A summary sheet of candidates’ positioning in different electoral districts.
The individual documents to be provided by each candidate include:
A valid identification document;
A certificate of nationality;
A criminal record bulletin n°3 dating from less than three months ago;
An excerpt from a birth certificate or any equivalent document;
A certificate of residence;
A tax clearance certificate for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 issued by the General Tax Directorate;
Proof of endorsement by the political party;
A sworn declaration certifying the candidate’s eligibility;
In case of absence of a signature from one or several candidates, a certified proxy must be attached.
The files must be organized into two sets of 85 files for ordinary candidacies, and two sets of 24 files for candidacies exclusively reserved for women, divided by constituency.
For the communal elections
For the communal elections, parties must provide:
A physical candidate declaration in duplicate with personal information and the party’s distinctive signs;
A dematerialized declaration via CENA’s software;
A deposit receipt of 10,000 FCFA per main candidate, making a total of 18,150,000 FCFA;
A summary sheet of candidates’ positioning.
The individual documents required are the same as for the legislative elections.
In accordance with the decision n°011/CENA/PT/RAP/SP of July 15, 2025, related to the distribution of seats to be filled, parties will have to submit 1,815 files for main candidacies and as many for substitutes.
The decision takes effect upon its signing and will be recorded and published through regulatory channels.
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