presidency or the vice-presidency, be attributed to the representative of civil society in the commission. This issue is taken so seriously that during the 2008 local elections, the Constitutional Court asked for the reconstitution of the ANEC board three times on the grounds of non-conformity with the political configuration of the commission. The high level of politicization of the ANEC and its branches is an important cause of difficulty in the management of elections in Benin, if not the main source of challenges and with the most disastrous consequences. Politicization, first done at the level of the ANEC and its branches, finally spread even over electoral agents(census takers and members of polling stations) who, according to Act N° 2007-25 of the general electoral regulations in the Republic of Benin currently in force, are appointed based on the political configuration. This high politicization, which became exaggerated with time, is supposed to allow every key political force to take part in the management of the electoral process to ensure transparency in the management of elections. But today, it is obvious that the results are still far from this goal, and this is still a euphemism. On the contrary, the consequences of the extreme politicization of the ANEC 9 on the electoral process in general are multiple. We can mention for example: · The transformation of the ANEC into an instrument of partisan fight where finally each political group employs its representatives to misuse, sometimes with success, the electoral process for opportunist and strategic purposes; · Gradual but constant loss of the credibility of the 9 It is necessary here to understand the ANEC and its subdivisions(up until the level of electoral agents). 153