IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Bahrain

Kingdom of Bahrain

1,637,896	8
Population (as of Feb. 8, 2019)	Elections in our database
365,467	57.29%
Registered Voters (as of Dec. 7, 2018)	Average Turnout

Name	Official Name	Type
Bahraini Shura Council	Majlis Al-Shura	Upper House
Bahraini Council of Representatives	Majlis Al-Nuwab	Lower House

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: King HAMAD bin Isa al-Khalifa
Head of Government: Prime Minister KHALIFA bin Salman al-Khalifa
Assembly: Bahrain has a bicameral National Assembly (al-Jamiyh al-Watani) consisting of the Shura Council (Majlis Al-Shura) with 40 seats and the Council of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwab) with 40 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The King is the hereditary head of state.
The Prime Minister is appointed by the monarch.
In the Shura Council (Majlis Al-Shura) 40 members are appointed by the monarch. In the Council of Representatives (Majlis Al-Nuwab) 40 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.**

** A second, runoff round is held if no candidate receives and absolute majority in the first round.

Elections

Election For	Date	Votes	Registered Voters	Turn Out
Referendum	2001-02-14	196,262	217,579	90.2
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2002-10-24	243,449	243,637	99.92
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2010-10-23	123,305	318,000	38.78
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2011-09-24	25,130	144,513	17.39
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2014-11-22	183,936	349,713	52.6
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2018-11-24	238,803	365,467	65.34
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2018-12-01	134,536	365,467	36.81
Bahraini Council of Representatives	2022-11-12	-	-	-

Voter Turnout

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