Electoral administration

The National Electoral Commission (NEC) is the constitutional body set up to prepare and organize the local, legislative, presidential elections as well as referendums (Art 180 Const.) Its organization and functioning is regulated by Law No 31/2005 of 24 December 2005 relating to the Organization and Functioning of the National Electoral Commission. The NEC is also competent to establish electoral constituencies, to prepare and teach civic education and to monitor, announce and publish election results.

During election time, the NEC establishes branches at provincial, City of Kigali and district levels.

The NEC has a tripartite structure: the Council of Commissioners, the Bureau of the Commission and the Executive Secretariat. The Council of Commissioners is composed of 7 members, including a President and a Vice President. Two of the Commissioners have to be lawyers. The Commissioners are proposed by the Government and have to be approved by the Senate. They may be removed from office by presidential order. .

The responsibilities and competences of the NEC

NEC is competent to:

• prepare, conduct and supervise elections;
• establish electoral constituencies;
• establish the Commission branches in the Province and the City of Kigali, Districts and appoint members of the Electoral College, give them instructions, receive their reports and supervise them during elections;
• prepare and teach civic education on elections;
• monitor, announce and publish in writing election results;
• put in place strategies to ensure elections are free, fair and transparent;
• carry out any other electoral activities provided by the law.

The elections to the House of Deputies will take place between 15^th and 18^th September 2008:

Polling

Legislative elections from the 15^th to 18^th of September will elect 80 Deputies to the Chamber of Deputies in the Rwandan parliament.

15^th of September, first voting day: 53 deputies (66%) are directly elected to the Chamber of Deputies by direct universal suffrage, the country being one single constituency. Polling takes place between 6h00 - 15h00 at 15.000 polling stations (PS) in the country, grouped in approximately 2.150 sites, most of which are schools, with an average of 7 PS per site.

16^th of September, second voting day: 24 female deputies (30% quota of women in parliament, 2 Kigali, 4 Northern Province, 6 Southern Province, 6 Eastern Province, 6 Western Province) are elected to the Chamber of Deputies by indirect election, by:

- 4160 women, elected in 2006 at the sector level, 10 per sector (416 sectors).
- 300 women elected in 2006 at district level, 10 per district (30 districts)
- 50 women elected in 2006 at provincial level, 10 per province (4 provinces + 1 Kigali)
- approximately 1000 Consultative Council members, males and females, 25 to 35 elected members per district (30 districts in Rwanda - depending on the number of sectors per district)

Voting will take place at district level, in the district capital. There will be a meeting room allocated for this purpose.

17^th of September, third voting day: 2 deputies are elected to the Chamber of Deputies by indirect election, representing the youth, by:

- 300 young persons elected in 2006 at district level, 10 per district (30 districts)
- 10 young persons elected in 2006 at national level, 10 in total as 1 constituency
- 16 young persons (8 from universities, 8 from high schools) elected in 2006.

Voting will take place at national level. Voters from the districts, will come to Kigali and vote in the capital. The place of polling will be the ETO KICUKIRO (Ecole Technique Officielle).

18^th of September, fourth voting day: One disabled deputy is elected to the Chamber of Deputies by indirect election, representing the disabled, by:

- 750 disabled persons elected in 2007 at district level, 25 per district (30 districts) and per each of the 5 recognised types of disability (physical disability, the blind, the deaf-mute, the mentally disabled, other disabilities)
- 25 disabled persons elected in 2007 at national level, 5 per disability (5 disabilities)
- 3 disabled persons representing the UN Millennium programme.

Voting will take place at national level. Voters from the districts will vote in Kigali. The voting place will be La Palisse, NYANDUNGU.