IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Colombia

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Legislative
March 2014
Presidential
May 2014

Colombia
Republic of Colombia
Region: Americas

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Juan Manuel SANTOS
Head of Government: President Juan Manuel SANTOS
Assembly: Colombia has a bicameral Congress (Congreso) consisting of the Senate (Senado) with 102 seats and the House of Representatives (Camara de Representantes) with 166 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.
In the Senate (Senado) 102 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms*. In the House of Representatives (Camara de Representantes) 166 members are elected through a party-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Parties are allowed to choose between closed and open lists. Most lists are open. There is 1 multi-member national constituency with 100 seats and 1 multi-member special national constituency for indigenous (Indian) communities with 2 seats.

** Parties are allowed to choose between closed and open lists. Most lists are open. There are 33 multi-member constituencies (departments), with each department containing at least 2 representatives. There is an additional representative for every 250,000 inhabitants or for each fraction of more than 125,000 inhabitants that the department has above the first 250,000.