Legislative in Benin: an inclusive ballot with low attendance

A Beninese voter puts his ballot in the ballot box during the January 8, 2023 legislative elections at a polling station in Cotonou.

AFP - YANICK FOLLY

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

More than six and a half million voters were called to the polls this Sunday for the legislative elections in Benin, the first ballot open to the opposition since the election in 2016 of President Patrice Talon.

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With our special correspondent in Cotonou,

Four years after legislative elections boycotted by the opposition, in which only two formations of the presidential movement had taken part, seven parties -

 - were in the running this Sunday to win the 109 deputy seats to be filled.

But in the polling stations of Cotonou, whether in Cadjèhoun, Gbegamey or Fifadji, the crowds were not very strong.

In another voting center near the airport where RFI was able to go, voters arrived in dribs and drabs.

During a first progress report, the electoral platform of civil society organizations, which deployed more than 700 observers on the ground, had indicated that the crowd was indeed low in the middle of the morning.

Without giving more details.

A quiet vote

Polling stations closed at 4 p.m., nine hours after opening.

Counting began immediately after the closing.

In polling station number 4 of the primary school of Cadjèhoun, it went well in the presence of representatives of political parties and voters who came to attend outside the office through the open door to "

”, in their words.

In this office, only a quarter of those registered went to the polls today. 

The last legislative elections of 2019 were marked by high abstention, contrary to the electoral tradition in Benin, a country previously cited as a model of democracy on the continent.

The ballot was followed by violent clashes in several towns.

This time, the day passed peacefully.

2019, I did not vote.

2020 too, I didn't vote.

2021 is the same too.

So it's a relief to have voted today.

I think we are very happy that this election is inclusive.

Speeches by voters leaving the polling stations

Magali Lagrange

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