Step 1 of 7 · Art. 41(2); AU–COMESA EOM paras. 43, 46
Polls open at 07:00
Direct elections run from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; voters already in the queue at closing time still vote. Polling staff take a public oath before opening.
◆ How to vote · Uburyo bwo gutora · polls 07:00–15:00
A thumbprint,
in secret.
Every Rwandan aged 18 on the register of their village or embassy may vote. On polling day you identify yourself, press your thumb — or tick with a pen — in one candidate's box, fold the paper and drop it in the box; the count is done in public in the same room as soon as polls close. On 15 July 2024, 8,907,876 of 9,071,157 registered voters took part in the presidential election (98.2%), 77,138 of them registered abroad.
Who votes · the register
Eighteen,
and on the list.
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Who can vote
Every Rwandan citizen aged 18, or who turns 18 by polling day, who is on the register of the village (umudugudu) where they live, or of the embassy abroad. Suffrage is universal, equal and secret (Constitution Art. 2).
Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 6(1) · Organic Law n° 002/2026.OL governing elections (Official Gazette n° 21 Bis of 25/05/2026) ↗ -
Identity
Voters identify themselves with their national identity card (issued by NIDA) or another document the NEC accepts; the register is built from the national ID database.
Not confirmed: the accepted documents are set by NEC instructions for each election.
KT Press, June 2024: 'We are on track', National Electoral Commission says (press) ↗ -
Who may not register
A person deprived of the right to vote by a court (unless restored by rehabilitation or amnesty); a person convicted of intentional homicide, of genocide or crimes against humanity, of child defilement or of rape; a person who is incarcerated; a refugee. A person registering shows their national identity card (Art. 6(2)).
Organic Law 002/2026.OL Arts. 6(2), 7(1) · Organic Law n° 002/2026.OL governing elections (Official Gazette n° 21 Bis of 25/05/2026) ↗ -
A continuous register
The voter register is permanent and revised at least once a year. The provisional register is published at least 30 days before polling day and the final register at least 15 days before.
Arts. 10(2), 13 · Organic Law n° 002/2026.OL governing elections (Official Gazette n° 21 Bis of 25/05/2026) ↗ -
Check your entry and polling station
Dial *169# on a mobile phone and follow the instructions, or use the NEC voter portal; the same channel was used in 2024 to move to a polling station near home, school or work. This site does not look up voters.
NEC — resource centre (check your polling station on *169#) ↗
To check your entry or polling station, use only the NEC's own channels: the *169# USSD service on a mobile phone or the NEC voter portal ↗. This site holds no voter data and does not look anyone up.
Polling day
Polling day · Organic Law 002/2026.OL
From the queue to the count
Direct elections: President, the 53 list deputies, referendums.
Step 2 of 7 · NEC
Identify yourself
Show your ID to the polling staff, who find you on the polling station's list.
Step 3 of 7 · Arts. 40, 42(5) · partly unverified
Mark the ballot in secret
Voting on a ballot paper is done by affixing a fingerprint or with a pen. The NEC sets the ballot's form; in 2024 it showed each candidate's or list's name, photo or logo, so voters who cannot read could find their choice.
Step 4 of 7 · AU–COMESA EOM para. 40
Assistance
A voter who needs help may be assisted by a person of their choice aged at least 14 but under 18.
Step 5 of 7 · Art. 50
Cast and get marked
Fold the ballot, put it in the box, and receive the mark showing you have voted.
Step 6 of 7 · Art. 51
Public count
Counting starts as soon as polls close, in each polling room, done publicly by the poll clerks before the public, observers and candidates or their agents.
Step 7 of 7 · Art. 68(1)
Results
Only the NEC proclaims results: provisionally within five days of the close of the poll, finally within seven days of that.
Try it · Organic Law 002/2026.OL Arts. 42(5), 53
What counts,
what does not.
“Voting by means of a ballot paper is exercised by the affixing of a fingerprint or by means of a pen” (Art. 42(5)). In 2024, 12,137 presidential papers were invalid — 0.14% of those cast — and, as the law requires, they do not count in any candidate's percentage (Art. 53(2)).
Practice ballot · a mock of the 2024 presidential paper
Place your thumbprint
Pick what to put on the paper, then press a candidate's box, the line between two boxes, or the margin. The verdict follows the electoral law's rules on invalid papers. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Try
Urupapuro rw'itora Presidential election · 2024 (mock)
Paul Kagame RPF
Frank Habineza Green Party
Philippe Mpayimana Independent
Mock-up, not the NEC's design: the order follows the NEC results sheet, and each party's logo is replaced by its colour and initials. The NEC sets the real paper's format (Art. 40(1)); doubts at the count are settled by the polling staff (Art. 47). Cases the law's words do not settle are marked “our reading”.
Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 53(1)
Six ways
to spoil a paper.
- Art. 53(1)(a)
Not the official paper
A ballot paper is invalid where it does not comply with this Organic Law or instructions of the Commission
A copy, or a paper not in the form the NEC set.
- Art. 53(1)(b)
Other signs
A ballot paper is invalid where it bears signs other than those prescribed for use
A drawing, a symbol — anything but a fingerprint or a pen mark.
- Art. 53(1)(c)
No clear choice
A ballot paper is invalid where it does not clearly indicate the candidate voted for
Two candidates marked, a print across the line, a mark only in the margin.
- Art. 53(1)(d)
Identity revealed
A ballot paper is invalid where the voter reveals his or her identity on the ballot paper
A name, a signature, an ID number.
- Art. 53(1)(e)
Nothing on it
A ballot paper is invalid where it is deposited in the ballot box without any expression of the vote
A blank paper put in the box.
- Art. 53(1)(f)
Other markings
A ballot paper is invalid where it bears markings other than those prescribed
Words or comments written on the paper.
Abroad, on duty, at home
Away from
your village.
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Voting abroad
Rwandans abroad vote from their country of residence at the embassy (at least one polling station per embassy), for President, the directly elected deputies and referendums; statements reach the NEC within 48 hours. In 2024 the diaspora voted on 14 July, a day before voters at home.
Arts. 74, 106, 108, 109 · source ↗ -
Women, youth and disability seats
The 24 women deputies are elected by secret ballot by electoral colleges by administrative entity, the 2 youth deputies by the National Youth Council and 1 deputy by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities; in 2024 these colleges voted on 16 July.
Constitution Art. 75(1); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 86 · source ↗ -
On duty on polling day
Polling stations were set up in hospitals and in peacekeeping missions abroad, and arrangements were made for election officials and security personnel on duty.
AU–COMESA EOM paras. 54, 56 · source ↗ -
Lining up, at village level
Besides a ballot paper, the law allows a vote by lining up behind the candidate of one's choice, or another method the NEC sets; elections of leaders at village, cell and sector level may be held by non-secret ballot. District councillors, mayors and the national seats are always elected by secret ballot.
Arts. 42(4), 116, 125, 128 · source ↗
Indirect elections · who sits in the colleges (2024)
Votes cast
by councillors.
Twenty-seven deputies and twelve senators are not elected by the public but by electoral colleges, voting by secret ballot; the most-voted candidates win. The law leaves each college's exact make-up to a Presidential Order. Sizes below are the NEC's.
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24 women deputies · 129,538 electors
Executive committees of the National Women's Council at every level, sector councils, the district councils of the province and the Council of the City of Kigali. Five colleges, one per province and Kigali: North 4 seats, 24,082 electors; South 6 seats, 31,222 electors; East 6 seats, 32,511 electors; West 6 seats, 31,497 electors; Kigali 2 seats, 10,226 electors.
Constitution Art. 75(1)(b); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 86 -
2 youth deputies · 261 electors
Executive committees of the National Youth Council at national and district level.
Constitution Art. 75(1)(c); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 87 -
1 deputy for persons with disabilities · 658 electors
Executive committees of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities at national, province/Kigali and district level, plus its sector coordinators.
Constitution Art. 75(1)(d); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 88 -
12 senators · 1,712 councillors
District and sector councils of each province and of Kigali, on 16 September 2024: North 349, South 438, East 403, West 405, Kigali 117.
Constitution Art. 80(1)(a); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 98 -
2 academic senators · 2,719 staff
Academic and research staff of public (1,807) and private (912) institutions of higher learning.
Constitution Art. 80(1)(d)–(e); Organic Law 002/2026.OL Art. 99