1978 Senegalese general election

General elections were held in Senegal on 26 February 1978 to elect a President and National Assembly. Following a constitutional amendment in 1976,^[1] the elections were open to more than one party for the first time since 1963. President Léopold Sédar Senghor of the Socialist Party (formerly the Senegalese Progressive Union) was challenged by Abdoulaye Wade of the Senegalese Democratic Party, but won with 82% of the vote.^[2] Members of the National Assembly were elected by closed-list proportional representation. In the National Assembly election, the Socialist Party won 82 of the 100 seats.^[1] Voter turnout was 63% in the presidential election and 63% in the parliamentary election.^[3]

1978 Senegalese general election

← 1973 26 February 1978 1983 →
Presidential election
Turnout	63.12%
Candidate Léopold Sédar Senghor Abdoulaye Wade Party PS PDS Popular vote 807,515 174,817 Percentage 82.20% 17.80%
President before election Léopold Sédar Senghor PS Elected President Léopold Sédar Senghor PS
Parliamentary election
Turnout	62.64%
Party Leader % Seats +/– PS Léopold Sédar Senghor 81.74 82 −18 PDS Abdoulaye Wade 17.88 18 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.