2014 Mauritanian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 21 June 2014, with a second round planned for 5 July if no candidate received more than 50% of the vote.[2] The result was a first round victory for incumbent President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of the Union for the Republic, who received 82% of the vote. Most of the opposition parties boycotted the election.[3]

2014 Mauritanian presidential election

21 June 2014 (2014-06-21)
1,328,168 registered voters[1] 50%+ votes needed to win
Turnout	56.46% (5.05%)
Nominee Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz Biram Dah Abeid Party UPR IRA-Mauritania Popular vote 577,995 61,218 Percentage 81.89% 8.67%
President before election Abdel Aziz UPR Elected President Abdel Aziz UPR

Background

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was the incumbent President of Mauritania at the time of the election and had been in office since 2009. A career soldier and high-ranking officer, he was a leading figure in the August 2005 coup that deposed President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, and in August 2008 he led another coup, which toppled President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. Following the 2008 coup, Abdel Aziz became President of the High Council of State as part of what was described as a political transition leading to a new election.[4] He resigned from that post in April 2009 in order to stand as a candidate in the July 2009 presidential election, which he won. He stood as a candidate again in the 2014 election.

Conduct

Although boycotted by opposition groups, the African Union praised the elections for taking place relatively peacefully.[3] Turnout was estimated at 56%.[3]

Results

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz	Union for the Republic	577,995	81.89
Biram Dah Abeid	Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement	61,218	8.67
Boïdiel Ould Houmeit	El Wiam	31,773	4.50
Ibrahima Moctar Sarr	Alliance for Justice and Democracy/Movement for Renewal	31,368	4.44
Lalla Mariam Bint Moulaye Idriss	Independent	3,434	0.49
Invalid/blank votes		44,077	–
Total		749,865	100
Registered voters/turnout		1,328,168	56.46
Source: CENI, IDEA

References

1. "Mauritanians vote in presidential poll amid opposition boycott". Reuters. 2014-06-22. Retrieved 2014-06-22.
2. Prieur, Laurent (21 April 2014). "Mauritania sets June 21 date for presidential election". Reuters. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
3. "Mauritanian President Abdel Aziz easily re-elected in boycotted vote". Reuters. 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
4. "Le Haut Conseil d'Etat rend public un nouveau communiqué" Archived 2008-08-12 at the Wayback Machine, AMI, 7 August 2008 (in French).