National Election Board Reveals Most Constituencies Have Announced Results

Addis ababa: Out of the targeted 1,138 constituencies, about 825 constituencies have declared election results, according to the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).According to Ethiopian News Agency, NEBE Chairperson Melatwork Hailu briefed the media today, stating that vote counting has continued across polling stations under various constituencies. She cited the distance between polling stations and constituencies, the large number of candidates, and polling stations as reasons for the delay in transferring the results. The Chairperson affirmed the smooth progression of transferring vote counts to constituencies.The Board has set up various platforms for election-related complaints, and Melatwork assured that it has acted accordingly to provide urgent and timely responses. She confirmed that the board resolved various complaints received during the election process based on their nature and in accordance with the election law. Melatwork also commended the role of local and international election observers and welcomed the constructive recommendations they provided.The elections saw more than 10,438 candidates from 42 political parties contesting for seats in the House of People's Representatives and regional councils. This exercise is described as the largest and most administratively sophisticated democratic participation in Ethiopia's history. The African Union and IGAD Election Observation Missions to the 2026 Ethiopian election praised the significant milestone in the country's democratic and electoral evolution at a joint press briefing of their preliminary findings on Wednesday.The African Union Election Observation Mission, comprising 83 observers from 37 African countries and led by former President of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta, assessed the election as being conducted within a legal and institutional framework that broadly supports democratic governance. The IGAD Election Observation Mission, led by former Vice President of Uganda Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe, confirmed in its published prelimina ry report that ballot boxes were correctly sealed in every station observed, that party agents were present throughout, and that the election represented major institutional, administrative, and technological progress.Following the successful conclusion of the general election, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed extended his gratitude to every Ethiopian citizen who participated, to NEBE and its more than 350,000 deployed officials, to the security forces who protected the process, and to the African and regional observer missions whose presence affirmed Ethiopia's commitment to democratic accountability.