IGAD to Deploy Regional Observers for Ethiopia’s June 1 Election

Ethiopia, May 20, 2026 - The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) will deploy a regional election observation mission to Ethiopia ahead of the country’s June 1 General Election, as attention shifts to the credibility of the Horn of Africa nation’s democratic process.

IGAD Peace and Security Division Director Commander Abebe Muluneh said the regional bloc was finalising preparations to send election experts drawn from member states including Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

“We are preparing to observe the election in Ethiopia by deploying experts from the region,” Commander Abebe told the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA).

The observers expected from across the IGAD bloc are drawn from countries that play a key role in regional peace, governance and diplomacy in the Horn of Africa. Kenya and Uganda are expected to contribute governance and electoral experts, while Djibouti, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan will also send representatives to monitor the conduct of the polls and strengthen regional confidence in the electoral process.

The mission follows an invitation by the Ethiopian government to the regional bloc to monitor the polls, which are being viewed as a key test of the country’s democratic transition.

Commander Abebe said IGAD’s role would be to assess whether the elections meet regional and international standards on transparency, fairness and credibility.

“We, of course, support fair and free elections in general, and we promote democratisation and good governance in our region, including Ethiopia,” he said.

The observers are expected to monitor polling-day procedures, vote counting and the overall management of the electoral process before issuing an independent assessment.

“For that reason, we are in a process just to have the election observation mission here in Ethiopia,” he added.

The announcement comes as Ethiopia’s National Election Board (NEBE) revealed that more than 50 million citizens had registered to vote despite financial and logistical challenges reported in some regions.

NEBE Chairperson Melatwork Hailu said 50,514,155 voters had been registered by the close of the voter registration exercise.

Of the total, more than 45.1 million voters registered manually while the rest used a digital registration system.

The voter register comprises over 27.3 million men and more than 23.1 million women.

Election preparations are already underway across the country, with authorities deploying about 195,316 personnel to support the exercise.

Officials said around 70,000 election workers had so far received payments amounting to one billion Birr.

The election board also announced that 48,829 polling stations had been established nationwide, including 46,352 main polling stations, 1,500 sub-stations and 2,477 additional voting sites.

A total of 614 constituencies are expected to participate in the polls.

NEBE further disclosed that 81 million Birr had been disbursed to 36 political parties to facilitate their participation in the election process.

The June 1 vote is expected to attract close scrutiny from domestic stakeholders, civil society groups and international partners amid growing focus on the conduct, inclusiveness and credibility of Ethiopia’s democratic reforms.