Elections in Benin

Elections in Benin take place within the framework of a multi-party democracy and a presidential system. Both the President and the National Assembly are directly elected by voters, with elections organised by the Autonomous National Electoral Commission (CENA).

In 1926 three elected seats were created on the Administrative Council. Elections with a severely limited franchise were held in 1925, 1928, 1932, 1934 and 1936.

Following World War II, the territory began to elect members to the French National Assembly. The first of these elections took place on 21 October 1945, with Dahomey and neighbouring Togo combined into a single constituency. Two MPs were elected using separate electoral colleges for French citizens and Africans. A by-election was held in February 1946 after one of the two elected MPs died in December 1945, with a second full election for the combined constituency held in June 1946. By the November 1946 elections, Dahomey had become a single-member seat.

A General Council was established in the same period and was first elected in January 1947. The result was a victory for the Dahomeyan Progressive Union, which won 20 of the 30 elected seats. French National Assembly elections were held again in 1951, with Dahomey now having two seats; the Liste de l'Union Française and the Ethnic Group of the North (GEN) each won one seat. The General Council was converted into the Territorial Assembly in 1952, with the first elections to the new body resulting in a victory for the Republican Party of Dahomey (PRD), which won 19 of the 32 seats elected by the second college.

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