NEBE Extends Voting Hours to Accommodate Queues

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | June 1, 2026 _ The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has issued an additional statement regarding the conduct of the 7th General Election.

The Board noted that voting for the 7th General Election was scheduled to take place today, Monday, June 1, 2026, from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Following a review of reports submitted by its election monitoring teams deployed across the country, the Board has reached the following decision.

Pursuant to Article 49(4) of Ethiopia’s Election, Political Parties Registration and Election Code of Conduct Proclamation No. 1162/2019, the Board is authorized to extend voting hours when it believes doing so will further enhance the freedom and fairness of the electoral process.

Accordingly, NEBE has announced that voting hours have been extended until midnight (12:00 P.M. at polling stations where the voting process had not yet been completed by the scheduled closing time.

At polling stations where all registered voters have already cast their ballots and voting has been completed, election officials are instructed to proceed with the vote-counting process.