Guinea-Bissau: Reform electoral laws

The policy brief identifies critical deficiencies in Guinea-Bissau's electoral framework, specifically the lack of coordination between the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and the government's Technical Support Office for the Electoral Process (GTAPE). It recommends granting the NEC financial independence through direct budget allocations and full responsibility for the electoral census. The brief also highlights the need to revise parliamentary seat distribution to reflect current demographic data and to legalise national election observation. Furthermore, it addresses the long-term failure to hold local elections since 1994, suggesting a consultative process to define a decentralisation model suited to the national context.

• There is a significant lack of coordination and a confusing division of responsibilities between the National Electoral Commission (NEC), which supervises voting, and the government-run Technical Support Office for the Electoral Process (GTAPE), which manages the electoral census.
• The NEC's independence is compromised by its financial dependence on the National People's Assembly (NPA), which controls the release of resources.
• The current distribution of parliamentary seats does not follow the principle of equal representation, with significant disparities in the ratio of voters to deputies across different constituencies.
• Voter registration integrity is threatened by a provision allowing citizens without identity cards to prove their identity through witnesses, which the document suggests could lead to fraud.
• While international election observation is legally regulated, there is no legislative framework for national election observation by civil society organisations.
• Despite being provided for in the Constitution since 1994, local elections have never been held in Guinea-Bissau, with local authorities instead being appointed by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local Government.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (2018). Guinea-Bissau: Reform electoral laws. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-2-eng.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Guinea-Bissau: Reform electoral laws. 2018. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-2-eng.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Guinea-Bissau: Reform electoral laws |date=May 2018 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-2-eng.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudies2018guineabissau, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Guinea-Bissau: Reform electoral laws}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2018}, month = may, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/policybrief-guineabissau-2-eng.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }