Malian presidential election, 2002
Encyclopedia
Mali
held a presidential election in 2002 to choose the President of Mali. The first round was held on 28 April 2002 and the second round was held on 12 May. Amadou Toumani Touré
won the election with 64% of the vote in the second round.
The previous president, Alpha Oumar Konaré
, stood down after 10 years in office; he was term limited by the Malian constitution
to two terms.
of approximately $7,000.
.
A second round was held as none of the candidates received over 50% of the vote.
After the first round of voting the Constitutional Court cancelled over 500,000 of the ballots due to problems such as unregistered voters and missing election reports.
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
held a presidential election in 2002 to choose the President of Mali. The first round was held on 28 April 2002 and the second round was held on 12 May. Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré
Amadou Toumani Touré is the president of Mali. He overthrew a military ruler, Moussa Traoré in 1991, then handed power to civilian authorities the next year...
won the election with 64% of the vote in the second round.
The previous president, Alpha Oumar Konaré
Alpha Oumar Konaré
Alpha Oumar Konaré was the President of Mali for two five-year terms , and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.-Scholarly career:...
, stood down after 10 years in office; he was term limited by the Malian constitution
Constitution of Mali
The 1992 Constitution of Mali was approved by a referendum on 12 January 1992 after being drawn up by a national conference in August 1991. The constitution provides for multi party democracy within a semi-presidential system.-Background:...
to two terms.
Candidates
Twenty-four candidates were certified by the Constitutional Court and stood in the election. Only one candidate, a woman who would have been the country's first female presidential candidate if she had been allowed to run, was prevented from standing for election after failing to provide the depositDeposit (politics)
A deposit is a sum of money that a candidate must pay in return for the right to stand for election to certain political offices, particularly seats in legislatures.-United Kingdom:...
of approximately $7,000.
Election rules
In order to become a candidate for the election a candidate had to provide a deposit of approximately $7,000. This was returned if the candidate won over 5% of the vote in the first round. Each candidate was entitled to have a representative at each of the 12,400 polling boothsVoting booth
A voting booth or polling booth is a room or cabin in a polling station where voters are able to cast their vote in private to protect the secrecy of the ballot. Commonly the entrance to the voting booth is a retractable curtain...
.
A second round was held as none of the candidates received over 50% of the vote.
Election controversy
Overall international observors said the election was well managed and transparent; however, there were many procedural irregularities.After the first round of voting the Constitutional Court cancelled over 500,000 of the ballots due to problems such as unregistered voters and missing election reports.