# RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift

Date: 2026

## The fact

On 11 April 2026 state-owned Radio Television Djibouti recorded [Ismail Omar Guelleh](/people/ismail-omar-guelleh) winner of the 10 April presidential election with 97.8 percent against Mohamed Farah Samatar. Parliament had lifted the 75-year candidate cap so he could run at 78. The Constitutional Council proclaimed 97.01 percent (204,874 votes) on 21 April. Main opposition parties have boycotted since 2016. This page does not invent a unique stuffing integer.

## Context

He ran. RTD and Interior tabulated. The Council wrote. Samatar is unresolved.

10 April poll; 11 April RTD; 21 April Council. Stored as one 11 April 2026 Fact. Keep RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift on 2026-04-11 separate from neighbouring 2021, age-cap, and 2026 instruments.

The president of Djibouti is head of state. He can run, accept an Interior Ministry return, and benefit from a Constitutional Council proclamation. He does not write the Council judgment, and he does not invent a unique stuffing integer here.

## Evidence and sources

Reuters (recording RTD) carries the official instrument or communique. BBC News records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is electoral integrity: a completed sixth-term 97.8 percent certification after an age-cap lift and a boycott.

## What is established and what is not

Established: RTD recorded 97.8 percent on 11 April 2026. The Council later proclaimed 97.01 percent. The age cap had been lifted.

Not established: A unique stuffing integer, or that 80 percent turnout is an ODIHR competitive finding.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

RTD tabulated. The Council wrote. Sharing tabulation is not a reason to drop the certification.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift, not a later speech about RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift on 2026-04-11 is not a licence to treat every later Reuters (recording RTD) communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average RTD records Guelleh at 97.8 percent for a sixth term after the age-cap lift into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He ran and was certified. RTD tabulated. The Council wrote. Sharing tabulation is not a reason to drop the certification. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Ismail Omar Guelleh: https://factrail.ai/people/ismail-omar-guelleh

## Drivers

- Electoral Integrity and Competitiveness: https://factrail.ai/drivers/electoral-integrity-and-competitiveness

## Sources

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgj0wg423n6o
- https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/djibouti-president-wins-election-with-978-vote-state-media-says-2026-04-11/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/dj-guelleh-election-2026