1976 Mauritanian presidential election
Open-knowledge reference entry
Presidential elections were held in Mauritania on 8 August 1976, alongside a parliamentary by-election for the new seven seats representing Tiris El Gharbiya, the Mauritanian-occupied area of Western Sahara. At the time, the country was a one-party state with the Mauritanian People's Party (PPM) as the sole legal party. Its leader, incumbent President Moktar Ould Daddah, was the only candidate and was re-elected unopposed. Voter turnout was 97.9%. They were the last elections held until the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1992.
The elections were held during a time when Mauritania along with Morocco held a treaty to partition provinces of Western Sahara during 1975 while independence was fought in the province by Polisario Front. Daddah claimed that the winning the elections was a mandate for annexing the provinces of Western Sahara.
Background
Mauritania came under the direct control of the French Colonial Empire during 1933. After independence on 28 November 1960, the country declared itself the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, with Ould Daddah becoming its first President. He declared the country a one-party state in 1964, and in 1965 all parties merged into the ruling Mauritanian Assembly Party to form the Mauritanian People's Party (MPP).
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