South Sudan election due 22 December, no voters registered yet

Who is running

Salva Kiir has led South Sudan since independence in 2011 and has never faced a vote. He is the candidate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the former rebel movement that governs the country.

Kornelio Kon Ngu, a deputy speaker of parliament until it was dissolved, declared on 31 August for the National Alliance of Political Parties. He says development is concentrated in the capital, Juba. Tijwog Agwet, a reverend and former presidential adviser on religious affairs, declared on 22 September as an independent and campaigns on peace, unity and public services.

Issa Muzamil Sebit Makelele, a lawyer and former chair of the South Sudan Bar Association, was endorsed on 23 September by his National Patriotic Movement, which did not sign the 2018 peace agreement. Peter Mayen Majongdit, a former minister of humanitarian affairs dismissed by Kiir in November 2022, leads the People's Liberal Party.

How the vote works

A candidate for president needs more than half of the valid votes to win in the first round. If nobody reaches that, the top two meet in a second round within 60 days.

Voters also elect the National Legislative Assembly, the lower house of parliament. A law signed in September cut it from 650 members to 270. Some seats are filled in geographical constituencies, some from party lists and some from lists reserved for women. Governors and assemblies are elected in the 10 states.

Registration is done in person and on paper. People without a national identity card or passport may use a certificate from their local chief, the National Elections Commission said on 12 October.

How the race got here

The election was first due in 2015 and has been postponed four times. A civil war began in 2013, and a peace agreement in 2018 created a power-sharing transitional government that was to end with a vote.

On 1 July 2026 parliament amended that agreement so that a national census and a permanent constitution are no longer required before the election. Opposition lawmakers challenged the legality of the change. On 22 September Kiir signed amendments to the election law and dissolved the transitional government, including parliament and the vice presidents.

Riek Machar, Kiir's long-time rival and leader of the main opposition party, the SPLM-in-Opposition, has been under house arrest since March 2025. He is on trial on charges of treason and murder, which he denies. His party opposes holding the vote in December.

What happens next

1. Jul 1Parliament drops census and constitution as conditions
2. Aug 31Kornelio Kon Ngu declares for president
3. Sep 22Kiir signs election law, dissolves transitional government
4. Oct 12Commission allows chiefs' certificates for registration
5. today
6. Dec 22Voting day

The National Elections Commission, chaired since September by Gabriel Bol Deng, has said it will announce the start of voter registration once materials reach the registration centres in the 10 states and 3 administrative areas. It has not published a timetable for nominating candidates or the hours of polling.

Under the amended law Kiir remains in office with full powers until a newly elected president takes office. No date for that has been announced.