Election Authority Rules on Coalition Signatures Ahead of Local Elections
Algeria’s Independent National Electoral Authority (ANIE) has settled a dispute over how individual signatures must be collected by political parties seeking to run in coalition lists in the upcoming local elections, ruling that signatures must be collected directly in the name of the coalition and cannot be transferred from forms previously signed in support of individual parties.
The decision came in an official letter dated September 20, 2026, and numbered 160, seen by Echorouk. It was issued in response to a request submitted by five political parties seeking permission for coalition lists to file their joint candidacy declarations under the name of the alliance, using individual signature forms collected at an earlier stage by one or more parties acting separately.
In its response, the electoral authority referred to Article 178, paragraph 1, of Ordinance No. 21-01 of March 10, 2021, concerning the organic law governing the electoral system, as amended and supplemented. The provision allows two or more political parties to form an alliance to endorse an electoral list.
However, the authority made clear that this provision does not allow parties to pool signatures that voters had previously signed in support of individual parties and subsequently use them to establish or endorse a coalition list.
According to the authority, individual signature forms must therefore be collected specifically in support of the coalition itself. In other words, the political entity endorsing the electoral list must be identified from the outset, at the signature-collection stage, rather than being determined after signatures have already been gathered on behalf of separate political parties.
The clarification comes as Algerian political parties prepare for the local elections scheduled for November 28, 2026, while finalizing their electoral lists and deciding whether to contest the vote independently or through alliances permitted under the country’s electoral framework.
Five Parties Seek Greater Flexibility
On September 19, the leaders of five political parties met at the headquarters of the Talaie El-Houriat Party in Algiers before sending a joint letter to the head of the Independent National Electoral Authority.
The parties involved were the Algerian Renewal, New Algeria Front, New Dawn Party, Union of Democratic and Social Forces, and National Struggle Front.
Their request focused on the procedures governing coalition lists. They asked the electoral authority to allow allied parties to submit joint candidacy declarations under the name of the coalition by pooling individual signature forms, including cases in which one or more of the parties had already withdrawn candidate declaration forms in its own name.
The parties justified their request by pointing to the importance of the forthcoming local elections, which will determine the composition of Algeria’s municipal and provincial elected councils. They described the vote as an opportunity to mobilize citizens and rebuild public confidence in state institutions.
Their letter also linked the upcoming elections to concerns over declining electoral participation. The parties argued that political disengagement was no longer limited to voter abstention but had extended to a reluctance to stand for election, which they described as a development that could lead to a serious rupture between citizens and political institutions.
They also referred to what they characterized as a challenging international environment and cited external threats facing Algeria as an additional reason for encouraging greater political participation.
Against this backdrop, the five parties called for coalition lists to be allowed to file their candidacy under the alliance’s name while using signatures that had already been collected separately by individual parties, provided that those parties subsequently agreed to contest the election as a coalition.
The signatories argued that such an arrangement would remove procedural obstacles facing parties required to collect individual signatures. They also said it would lend greater credibility to the electoral process, encourage more candidates to enter the race and contribute to higher turnout in the November local elections.
Authority Maintains Strict Link Between Signatures and Endorsing Entity
The electoral authority, however, maintains a clear procedural link between the entity collecting the signatures and the entity ultimately endorsing the electoral list. Where a coalition is the body endorsing a list, the individual signatures must have been collected in the coalition’s name.
As a result, signatures initially obtained by individual parties cannot subsequently be reassigned to a coalition simply because those parties decide to contest the election together.
The ruling effectively means that the formation of an electoral alliance does not, by itself, retroactively alter the legal basis on which signatures were collected. Political parties intending to submit a joint list must therefore ensure that the coalition itself is identified as the endorsing entity when signatures are gathered.
The clarification provides a definitive procedural answer to the five parties’ request while drawing a clear distinction between the right of political parties to form electoral alliances and the formal requirements governing the collection and attribution of individual voter signatures.
For parties preparing their lists for the November 28 election, the decision makes the timing and legal designation of the endorsing entity a critical part of the nomination process.
