KIGALI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The number of eligible voters to participate in Rwanda's September parliamentary elections has increased by 20 percent compared to the previous legislative elections, the National Electoral Commission said Saturday.
A total of 7,172,612 Rwandans were registered to take part in the upcoming parliamentary elections, up from 5,953,531 who were registered in 2013 legislative elections, an increase of 20 percent, the electoral commission's chairman Kalisa Mbanda told journalists at a press briefing in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
The press briefing was called to announce the final voters list which must be done within 15 days ahead of the election, according to the electoral law.
Mbanda said voting will take place at 2,473 polling stations spread across the country.
Parliamentary campaigns kicked off on August 13 to run through September 1, according to Rwanda's National Electoral Commission.
Up to 521 parliamentary candidates were nominated ahead of the September elections.
The candidates include 302 from different political parties, including the ruling Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) with its six allied political parties, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Liberal Party (PL), the Democratic Green Party of Rwanda, and PS Imberakuri.
Others include four independent candidates, 26 for youth, 10 for people living with disability, and 179 for slots reserved for women in Parliament.
The central African country is set to hold parliamentary elections from Sept. 2 to 4 to elect 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, for a five-year term, according to NEC.
The elections of the lower house use one single nationwide constituency, where 53 seats will be directly elected by proportional representation.
The other 27 seats reserved for special interest groups including women, the youth and the disabled will be elected indirectly.
