How does Tanzania’s electoral system work?
has a first-past-the-post system, with the president and vice president jointly and directly elected via simple majority popular vote. They serve 5-year terms, which are renewable once.
The October 29, 2025 election is a little unusual, because current President Samia Suluhu Hassan is competing in her first presidential election. She upon the in 2021. Hassan, the first woman to lead Tanzania, was his deputy.
Tanzania has an electoral relationship with the island of Zanzibar. While the mainland and Zanzibar have formed the United Republic of Tanzania since 1964, the territories have considerable differences in populations, colonial history, religious makeup and economy. For example, Zanzibar’s population counts for approximately 1.9 million out of Tanzania’s total population of 68 million. Around 98% of Zanzibaris are Muslim, while around 63% of Tanzanians in total are Christians.
As such, of the 264 members of parliament directly elected to represent constituencies, 214 are reserved for mainland and 50 for Zanzibar. 113 additional seats are allocated for women in parliament, who are indirectly chosen by their respective parties.
Who could take the presidency?
17 candidates and their parties are officially running. However, Hassan of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party is the only nationally recognized candidate, and the two main opposition parties, and ACT-Wazalendo, have been barred. Major candidates from both parties have also been banned from standing for election.
Key concerns for voters
Tanzania has made significant strides in building roads, power lines, rail and internet access, but there’s still a considerable gulf between rural communities and growing urban areas.
Service delivery – from access to clean water to reliable electricity – and a gap in educational and employment opportunities are key issues for voters. Some say that despite close on five decades of rule, the CCM has not delivered on promises.
Tanzania is most populous nation, and demographic trends place the country among the fastest-growing populations globally.
Young, upwardly mobile voters are increasingly making their voices heard. But concerns persist over voter apathy, or reluctance to vote, because the CCM
How previous elections have gone
An intriguing prospect is how the 2025 election will reflect Hassan’s standing within her own party, and how its politicians jostle for position.
The CCM has effectively been in power since Tanzania’s independence from Britain in the 1960s. It is considered the party of still a figure held in high regard. Analysts see the CCM as the last of Africa’s liberation era parties still competing and dominating elections.
From 1977 to 1992 Tanzania was a one-party state, with CCM, essentially a merger of the Tanganyika National Union and the Zanzibari Afro-Shirazi Party, holding sway.
Chadema’s best election result came in 2015 when its presidential candidate, Edward Lowassa, won almost 40% of the vote, lagging behind the opposition party saw its vote share shrink to just 13%. Its leaders claimed there were
Opposition suppressed
Hassan was praised after coming to power in 2021 for easing repression of political opponents and censorship of the media, which had become associated with Magufuli’s In 2023, she lifted his ban on opposition-led rallies, and has been hailed for a number of reforms.
However, Hassan is now growing criticism over the alleged state-sanctioned abductions and arrests and opposition politicians. He was arrested in April 2025 while calling for electoral reforms.
A former Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba, Humphrey Hesron Polepole, went missing in October 2025. He is a vocal critic of the government. Senior Chadema official Ali Mohamed Kibao was abducted in September 2024 and found dead. In the runup to the 2025 vote,warned of “deepening repression”threatening the election, while Amnesty International said it documented“systemic human rights violations” by authorities, which includes “enforced disappearance and torture” and “extrajudicial killings of opposition figures and activists.”
Edited by: Benita van Eyssen
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