Presidential elections were held in Chad on 3 May 2006. A referendum in 2005 had led to changes to the constitution that made it possible for President Idriss Déby to run for a third term; having come to power in December 1990, he had previously won elections in 1996 and 2001. Despite a serious rebellion based in the east of the country, the elections were held on schedule; Déby was re-elected with about 65% of the vote, according to official results. The main opposition parties boycotted the election.

Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is an independent state at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. The landlocked country is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon to the southwest, Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west. Chad has a population of 16 million, of which 1.6 million live in the capital and largest city of N'Djamena. With a total area of around 1,284,000 km2, Chad is the fifth-largest country in Africa and the twentieth largest nation by area in the world.