Over 23 million women to vote in Ethiopia’s June 2026 General elections
Ethiopia is going to polls on the first day of June 2026, where a great number of political parties, totaling 47 groups will participate in the General Election, described to be the most participatory in the country’s history.
Black News 
Over 50 million people in Ethiopia have registered to vote in what is being seen as the country’s biggest democratic moment so far. Though observers take this with a pinch of salt.
But with 50.5 voters, the 2026 elections in Ethiopia have surpassed the previous 2021 polls with 32 percent more ballots.
This time also, 46 percent of registered voters happen to be women, numbering to 23.4 million.
Ethiopia is going to polls on the first day of June 2026, where a great number of political parties, totaling 47 groups will participate in the General Election, described to be the most participatory in the country’s history.
Still, despite the country setting out to hold general elections, it seems the ruling party led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is already expected to win amid minimal competition.
There are nearly 11,000 candidates, among them 73 independent runners, who are standing up to run for various political positions, all scrambling for the attention of 50.5 million ballot holders.
These comprise 2,198 candidates for the House of Peoples’ Representatives and 8,736 for regional council seats. But don’t be fooled by numbers, they are all one-party proxies.
Data from the country’s digital registration portals, run by National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) and tallied in Addis Ababa reveal that women comprise 46 percent of the registered voters in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian General Elections slated for the 1st of June 2026 will be manned by some 187,000 election officials.
The polls have also attracted nearly 170 local and international observer groups.
A team from the African Union (AU) mission has already been deployed to monitor the elections.
In addition, 55 local organizations accredited by National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) as polls observers have so far deployed their own 60,277 agents across the regions.
On the other hand, the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Forum (ECSF) affirmed that it has been intensifying its nationwide efforts to help ensure the seventh general election peaceful, transparent, democratic and credible.
While Addis Ababa features a record number of candidates in the field, the forthcoming polls still hide a deeper concern whether despite the high turnout of contenders, Ethiopia’s seventh general election can still be credible especially in areas of the country that are still gripped by insecurity.
