General Information
At Stake in this Election:
172 seats in the Chamber of Representatives of the Republic of Colombia (Cámara de Representantes)
Government Structure:
- Chief of State: President Iván DUQUE Márquez (since 7 August 2018)
- Head of Government: President Iván DUQUE Márquez (since 7 August 2018)
- Assembly: The Congress of the Republic of Colombia (Congreso de la República de Colombia) is a bicameral legislature consisting of the Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes), which contains 172 seats, and the Senate (Senado), which contains 108 seats.
Electoral System:
- The President of Colombia is elected to serve one four-year term* using a two-round majoritarian system, in which a runoff election is held between the top two candidates should no one receive a majority during the first iteration of voting. [1]
- The Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes) consists of 172 seats based on territorial circumscriptions which are elected from within 33 multi-member districts.** These seats will be allocated using list proportional representation, with remaining seats being allocated on the basis of greatest remainders. [2] [3]
- The Senate (Senado) consists of 108 seats, of which 102 are directly elected.*** Elections for 100 of these seats occur in a single national constituency, while the remaining two seats are decided in a special national constituency limited to indigenous communities. Both constituencies use list proportional representation, with remaining seats being allocated on the basis of greatest remainders. [4]
*Following a 2015 electoral reform, successful presidential candidates are limited to one term.
**Five seats are reserved for the Comunes (formerly the People’s Alternative Revolutionary Force, FARC). Additional seats are reserved for the Afro-Colombian Communities’ Special Circumscription (2), Indigenous Communities’ Special Circumscription (1), and International Circumscription for Colombians residing abroad (1). For the first time, an additional 16 Special Seats for Peace will be reserved for non-partisan candidates hailing from 167 conflict-affected municipalities, who will act as representatives of those affected by the armed insurgency. Finally, one seat is reserved for the runner-up vice-presidential candidate, who will assume office following the 2022 presidential elections. [5]
***An additional five seats are reserved for Comunes representatives (see above), with an additional seat reserved for the runner-up presidential candidate, who will assume office following the 2022 presidential elections. [6]
Last Election:
- The last elections for the Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes) occurred on 11 March 2018.
- The most recent elections were held for the Office of the President, with the second round of voting concluding on 17 June 2018.
Main Parties in this Election:
- Party: Colombian Liberal Party (PLC) / Partido Liberal Colombiano
- Leader: Simón GAVIRIA Muñoz
- Seats won in last election: 35
- Party: Democratic Centre – Strong Hand, Big Heart (Democratic Centre) / Centro Democrático – Mano firme, corazón grande (Centro Democrático)
- Leader: Álvaro URIBE
- Seats won in last election: 32
- Party: Radical Change (CR) / Cambio Radical
- Leader: Jorge Enrique VÉLEZ
- Seats won in last election: 30
- Party: Union Party for the People (Party of the U) / Partido de la Unión por la Gente (Partido de la U)
- Leader: Juan Manuel SANTOS
- Seats won in last election: 25
- Party: Colombian Conservative Party / Partido Conservador Colombiano
- Leader: Omar YEPES
- Seats won in last election: 21
- Party: Green Alliance / Alianza Verde
- Leader: Luis Carlos AVELLANEDA and Antonio SANGUINO
- Seats won in last election: 9
- Coalition: The List of Decency (Decent) / Lista de la Decencia (Decentes)
- Leader: Gustavo PETRO and Aída AVELLA
- Seats won in last election: 3
- Party: Citizen Option / Opción Ciudadana
- Leader: Led by a council
- Seats won in last election: 2
- Party: Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) / Polo Democrático Alternativo
- Leader: Alexander LOPEZ
- Seats won in last election: 2
- Party: Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (MIRA) / Movimiento Independiente de Renovación Absoluta
- Leader: Carlos Eduardo GUEVARA
- Seats won in last election: 1
- Party: Free Fair Colombia / Colombia Justicia Libres
- Leader: David REYES Castro
- Seats won in last election: 1
Population and Registered Voters:
Gender Data:
- Female Population: 24,829,387 (July 2021 est.) [9]
- Is Colombia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980) [10]
- Has Colombia ratified CEDAW: Yes (19 January 1982) [11]
- Gender Quota: Yes. For lists submitted for election of 5 or more seats, at least 30% of candidates of each gender must be included. [12]****
- Female candidates in this election: 762 out of 1,882 candidates (40.5 percent) [13]
- Number of Female Legislators: 31 out of 172 [14]
- Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 83 at 0.767 (2020) [15]
- Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very low [16]
****In 2021, an electoral reform passed requiring gender parity on candidate lists. However, the legislation must first be reviewed by the Constitutional Court of Colombia before taking effect and will therefore not apply to this election. [17]
[1] https://electionguide.org/elections/id/3063/
[2] https://www.swissinfo.ch/spa/colombia-elecciones-claves_cartilla-para-las-elecciones-del-13-de-marzo-en-colombia/47423516
[3] http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2067_B.htm
[4] http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2068_B.htm
[5] https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/colombia_2022_congressional_faqs.pdf
[6] Ibid.
[7] https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/colombia/#people-and-society
[8] https://www.registraduria.gov.co/-Censo-Electoral-3661-
[9] https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/colombia/#people-and-society
[10] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en
[11] Ibid.
[12] https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/82/35
[13] https://www.moe.org.co/en/aumentan-las-candidaturas-de-mujeres-al-congreso-el-mayor-reto-sigue-siendo-que-resulten-electas/
[14] http://archive.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2067_A.htm
[15] https://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/COL
[16] https://www.genderindex.org/country-profiles/
[17] https://www.co.undp.org/content/colombia/es/home/-sabias-que-/38-8-millones-de-personas-habilitadas-para-votar-en-elecciones-a.html
[18] https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=176&Lang=EN
[19] Ibid.
[20] http://www.electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/co/all/