◆ Calendar · local elections 2026 · as of 6 November 2026, 09:14 Kigali
Rwanda elects its local councils from the ground up. On 24 October 2026 residents voted directly in their villages; every tier above is elected by the councils below it, ending with the National Councils on 30 November 2026. 2 of 7 rounds have been held.
2/7 Next: Sector councils (imirenge), Saturday 7 November 2026 (in 1 day).
The 2026 rounds · state computed now, in Kigali time
Every resident aged 18 and over, in each of the villages.
Cell councils (a councillor and women candidates from each village, the three National Council coordinators) elect their bureaus and one councillor each to the sector council.
Each cell council elects one sector councillor; women councillors (at least 30%) by secret ballot.
NEC results due (Art. 68): provisional by 12 November 2026, final by 19 November 2026 at the latest.
Sector councils and the women's council committees elect the women councillors (30% of seats).
NEC results due (Art. 68): provisional by 22 November 2026, final by 29 November 2026 at the latest.
Date: MINALOC calendar ↗ · District Council (27 districts outside Kigali) ↗
A college of cell council bureaus, sector councils, the district committees of the women's, youth and disability councils and the Private Sector Federation.
NEC results due (Art. 68): provisional by 26 November 2026, final by 3 December 2026 at the latest.
Date: MINALOC calendar ↗ · District Council (27 districts outside Kigali) ↗
Mayor and two vice-mayors chosen from among the elected district councillors, by secret ballot.
NEC results due (Art. 68): provisional by 29 November 2026, final by 6 December 2026 at the latest.
Date: MINALOC calendar ↗ · District Executive Committee (Mayor and two Vice Mayors) ↗
Executive committees of the women's, youth and disability councils, elected level by level up to the national committee.
NEC results due (Art. 68): provisional by 5 December 2026, final by 12 December 2026 at the latest.
Date: MINALOC calendar ↗ · National Councils: Women, Youth, Persons with Disabilities ↗
Dates: MINALOC calendar of 8 October 2026 and NEC Instructions n° 001/NEC/26. The district campaign runs from 7 November (Instructions Art. 35(3)); candidates may not campaign on the eve of a poll or on polling day (Organic Law Art. 30). Results come only from the NEC: Results →
Who votes at each tier
Residents aged 18 and over elect the village executive committee and the people they send to the cell council.
The cell council is made of what the villages send up; it elects its bureau and one councillor to the sector.
One councillor from each cell, women councillors to at least 30%, and ex officio members.
Councillors elected by colleges of the councils below; the mayor and two vice-mayors are then elected from among the councillors, by a wider college.
Six councillors elected by the sector councils of Kigali's three districts, six appointed; the council elects the city mayor. Kigali's districts have appointed administrators, not councils.
Counts: 14,837 villages and 2,148 cells (Commonwealth Local Government Forum, secondary), 416 sectors (NISR census annex), 30 districts, 27 of them with an elected council. Candidates stand as individuals, not on party lists. The provinces have appointed governors and no elected council. How each body works: Government →
Publishing rules
Rwanda's electoral law has no rule on opinion polls or exit polls. What it restricts is the candidates: no campaigning on the eve of a poll or on polling day (Art. 30). Only the National Electoral Commission proclaims results — provisionally within 5 days of the close, finally within 7 days after that (Art. 68).
Publishing the results of a national or province-wide survey needs the prior approval of the National Institute of Statistics (NISR), so this site publishes no polls of its own. As a house rule it hides prediction-market prices while a poll is open.
Try it · Organic Law n° 002/2026.OL Arts. 30, 41, 68 · NEC Instructions n° 001/NEC/26
Pick a date and time in Kigali (Central Africa Time, UTC+2 all year).
The next national elections
12 June – 12 July 2029
30 to 60 days before the President's term ends (Art. 100(1)); the term began on 11 August 2024. The date is fixed by a Presidential Order published at least 90 days before the poll — by 14 March 2029 for the earliest possible date, 13 April 2029 for the latest. The campaign lasts at least 20 days; polling runs 07:00–15:00. An estimate: no date is set.
About August 2029
Five-year term (Art. 81(1)); elections 30–60 days before the term expires (Organic Law 002/2026.OL, Art. 96).
2031
District councils serve five years. The councils elected in 2026 serve until then.
Past national elections · since the 2003 Constitution
Results, elections before 2003 and sources: History →