IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Nicaragua

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Presidential
November 2016
Legislative
November 2017

Nicaragua
Republic of Nicaragua
Region: Americas

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra
Head of Government: President Daniel ORTEGA Saavedra
Assembly: Nicaragua has a unicameral National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) with 92 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by plurality vote to serve a 5-year term.*
In the National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional) 90 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms.***

* In order to avoid a run-off, a candidate must obtain either 40 percent of the vote or 35 percent with at least a 5-point lead over the nearest rival.

*** There are 17 multi-member constituencies for 70 seats (District magnitude ranging from 2 to 19) and one nationwide constituency comprising 20 seats. There is no threshold for entering parliament. One seat is reserved for the previous president and one seat for the runner-up in previous presidential election.