Côte d’Ivoire’s Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) has announced, through its chairman Coulibaly-Kuibiert Ibrahime, that it will not be possible to carry out a new revision of the electoral roll. This decision is intended to avoid compromising the holding of the presidential election on the constitutionally scheduled date. The president of the IEC made this statement at a press conference held at the institution’s headquarters in Abidjan on 2 June 2025.
In Côte d’Ivoire, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) has announced that it will not be possible to carry out another revision of the electoral roll, as this would jeopardise the holding of the election of the President of the Republic on the constitutional date. This announcement was made on 2 June 2025 by the chairman of the IEC, Coulibaly-Kuibiert Ibrahime. He was speaking at a press conference held on Monday 02 June 2025 at the institution’s headquarters in Abidjan. According to the IEC, the final electoral roll, initially scheduled for 20 June, will finally be available for consultation from Wednesday 4 June 2025.
« At its meeting on Monday 2 June 2025, the Central Electoral Commission adopted the final electoral list. Initially scheduled to be available around 20 June, the Electoral Commission had to work quickly but not without the rigour that dictates our operations to draw up this electoral list today and above all to take account of the recommendations of the political parties in this matter. »
Coulibaly-Kuibiert Ibrahime , President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) – Côte d’Ivoire
To make up for the impossibility of a new revision, the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) had envisaged a solution. According to its chairman, the electoral body included on the provisional list, published at the end of February 2025, citizens who had reached the age of majority by that date. According to the IEC, 8,727,431 voters are expected to turn out at the polls for the October 2025 presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire. This represents a significant increase of 715,006 new registrants, an increase of 8.92% compared to the previous electoral cycle.
« You will readily agree with me that an updated revision operation takes an average of six to seven months to complete. You will therefore understand the impossibility of carrying out another electoral roll revision operation at the risk of compromising the holding of the election of the President of the Republic on the constitutional date. It is precisely to take account of this difficulty that we have considered the option of capturing those citizens who are due to reach the age of majority by the end of February 2025, the date of publication of the provisional electoral roll ».
Coulibaly-Kuibiert Ibrahime , President of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) – Côte d’Ivoire
The decision not to revise the list before the poll marks the end of hopes for some leading opposition figures to take part in the presidential election, such as Tidjane Thiam, who was removed from the list on grounds of nationality, and former presidents Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé, who were not included on the list because of judicial convictions in connection with the 2010-2011 post-election crisis. Their political parties will, however, be able to put forward other candidates.
