Somalia sets Sept. 9 restart for voter registration in push toward one-person, one-vote
Somalia’s electoral clock will start ticking again next week. The country’s Independent National Electoral and Boundaries Commission announced Saturday that voter registration for long-promised one-person, one-vote elections will resume on Sept. 9 and run through Sept. 30 — a narrow window with outsized stakes for a nation attempting to exit decades of indirect, clan-based politics.
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What’s new
Commission Chairman Abdikarin Ahmed Hassan told reporters that the process is back on and that newly registered political organizations can immediately begin recruiting supporters. He urged other groups that have met the legal criteria to sign up, saying the commission’s offices “are open at any time.” Earlier in the day, the Commission registered 14 political parties, including those led by former parliamentary speakers Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden and Mohamed Mursal Sheikh Abdirahman — veteran power brokers now stepping into the architecture of formal party politics.
Why it matters
The move marks another incremental step away from Somalia’s 4.5 power-sharing formula, a system that divvies up representation among major clans and minorities and has served as the country’s stopgap political logic for years. Under a recent political deal between the federal government and a faction of the opposition, members of parliament would, for the first time, be directly elected through universal suffrage and would then choose the president — a hybrid model that nods to Somalia’s parliamentary tradition while acknowledging the democratic demand to let citizens cast ballots themselves.
The plan is straightforward in concept but profound in implication: a vote that asks ordinary Somalis — not clan elders — to decide who speaks for them. In a country where many young people have never seen a nationwide popular ballot, that prospect is both energizing and daunting.
How the system is evolving
Somalia has in recent cycles used indirect elections in which clan delegates selected lawmakers who then chose the president. The proposed shift would put MPs directly on the ballot. It is a model seen elsewhere on the continent, where parliamentary systems rely on constituency contests to fill the legislature and then entrust the selection of the head of state or government to those elected members. The Commission’s registration update suggests officials are intent on building the scaffolding for that transition, even as debate rages over pace and feasibility.
Politics of the moment
The registration of 14 parties in one sweep signals a burst of activity among elites who have long navigated Somalia’s fluid political landscape through factions and alliances rather than formal party structures. Bringing those actors under a party framework could, if sustained, make politics more programmatic and less personality-driven over time. But the fact that the federal government’s deal was struck with only a “faction of the opposition” hints at the careful stitching still required to bring federal member states and skeptical stakeholders along.
The hurdles ahead
Somalia’s election project is not only about politics. It is also about logistics and trust. Security conditions remain volatile in parts of the country. Displacement caused by conflict and climate shocks complicates who registers where. Technical capacity — from voter rolls to polling protocols — must be built and vetted. And the biggest challenge may be confidence: can the Commission run a process that political rivals deem credible and that ordinary citizens believe reflects their will?
In Mogadishu, where politics can feel both distant and immediate, the news of registration resuming filtered quickly through tea stalls and WhatsApp groups. Some welcomed it as overdue progress; others asked how registration centers will reach rural communities and how disputes will be resolved when they inevitably arise. Those questions are sensible. Elections do not just need a date; they need an ecosystem — rules, institutions, and public patience.
The wider African picture
Somalia’s push comes as several African countries wrestle with how to broaden participation while keeping the peace. Across the region, electoral commissions are experimenting with new registration drives, digital tools, and legal reforms in bids to boost legitimacy. The lesson from neighbors is clear: a credible process tends to matter more than a fast one. Yet there is also urgency in the Somali case — a sense that the country has spent too long in interim arrangements that were never meant to be permanent.
Key dates and what to watch
- Sept. 9: Voter registration resumes nationwide.
- Sept. 30: Registration period slated to close.
- Over the coming weeks: Additional political organizations may seek registration; parties will begin recruiting supporters under the new rules.
Watch three indicators. First, participation: how many citizens register and where, especially outside major cities. Second, inclusivity: whether women and youth — who have often been underrepresented — see pathways to be heard. Third, consensus: whether federal member states and opposition figures align on timelines and procedures, reducing the risk of boycotts or parallel processes.
The bigger question
Somalia is trying to do something difficult: change how power is earned and exercised while still fighting to consolidate the state itself. The resumption of registration is a procedural step, yes, but it is also a symbolic one. It suggests a country taking small, deliberate strides toward a future in which voters, not elders, decide who sits in parliament. That future will not arrive with one announcement or one deadline; it will arrive piece by piece, if Somalis — leaders and citizens alike — insist on it.
There is a line that many election administrators repeat: an election is not an event; it is a process. Saturday’s announcement makes that process visible again. The next test is whether it holds under pressure.
By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
