Elections in Colombia

Elections in Colombia are regulated and controlled by the National Electoral Council (CNE) which also provides information on elections and election results.

At the national level, the President of Colombia is elected as the head of state and the bicameral Congress of Colombia as the legislature every four years. The Congress of Colombia is composed of 162 members of the Chamber of Representatives and 102 members of the Senate. Both are elected by proportional representation.

Colombia historically had a two-party system, dominated by the Colombian Liberal Party and Colombian Conservative Party, in which it could be difficult for third parties to find success. Since the implementation of the 1991 constitution, there has been a proliferation of third parties, which have won most presidential elections in the 21st century.

Colombia's electoral system has a pervasive corruption issue, with electoral fraud, bribery, and other scandals occurring at both the municipal and national levels.

Colombian presidents are elected for four-year terms using a two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held between the top two candidates.^[1] The vice president is elected on the same ticket as the president. Presidents are limited to a single four-year term, and Article 191 of the constitution requires candidates to be Colombian by birth and at least thirty years old. In line with the constitution, Colombian citizens by birth or by naturalization, aged eighteen or older have the right to vote. Several scenarios can cause the loss of the right to vote, as outlined in the constitution. Citizens in detention centers can vote from the establishments determined by the National Civil Registry. The civil registry inscription is not automatic, and citizens must go to the regional office of the registry to register.^[2] Legislative Act No. 2 of 2015 established that the runner-up in the presidential elections is given a seat in the Senate and their vice president candidate becomes a member of the Chamber of Representatives.^[3]

In order to be accepted as a candidate, applicants must either have the backing of a recognized political party in order to run as their official candidate, or to collect a minimum number of signatures in order to run as an independent candidate.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held every four years in Colombia.

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Historic Pact	4,413,636	22.72	25
	Democratic Centre	3,035,715	15.63	17
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,275,182	11.71	12
	Alliance for Colombia[b]	1,904,154	9.80	10
	Colombian Conservative Party	1,863,663	9.60	10
	Party of the U	1,565,786	8.06	8
	Radical Change–ALMA Coalition[c]	1,248,021	6.43	7
	Colombia Now[d]	900,606	4.64	5
	National Salvation Movement	705,924	3.63	4
	Frente Amplio Unitario[e]	396,042	2.04	2
	Creemos Colombia	227,957	1.17	0
	Five other parties	269,503	1.39	0
Blank votes		616,998	3.18	–
Total		19,423,187	100.00	100
Valid votes		19,423,187	96.89
Invalid votes		623,539	3.11
Total votes		20,046,726	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,287,084	48.55
Indigenous seats
	Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement	88,294	29.05	1
	Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	72,927	23.99	1
	Unity in Minga Movement for Colombia	56,060	18.44	0
	Association of Traditional Indigenous Authorities	16,628	5.47	0
	Yes Movement	3,001	0.99	0
	Association of Indigenous Councils for Colombia	2,644	0.87	0
	Four other parties	5,866	1.93	0
Blank votes		58,539	19.26	–
Total		303,959	100.00	2
Source: RTVC[4]

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Historic Pact	3,795,553	20.27	33
	Democratic Centre	2,508,167	13.39	24
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,108,525	11.26	26
	Colombian Conservative Party	1,969,826	10.52	18
	Party of the U	1,047,542	5.59	12
	Radical Change	802,570	4.29	9
	Green Alliance	655,520	3.50	4
	National Salvation Movement	408,034	2.18	1
	Democratic Centre–MIRA	355,763	1.90	3
	Pr1mero Córdoba (CoR–MIRA)	336,603	1.80	2
	Creemos Colombia	285,354	1.52	2
	Ahora Colombia (MIRA–NL–D&C)	269,226	1.44	1
	Historic Pact–Green Alliance	212,025	1.13	4
	Coalición Liberal Colombia Reborn	147,238	0.79	1
	La Fuerza	139,936	0.75	1
	New Liberalism	133,589	0.71	0
	MIRA–Dignity and Commitment	121,505	0.65	0
	CR–PUG–MSN–OXI	119,070	0.64	1
	Green Alliance–En Marcha	112,842	0.60	2
	Colombian Democratic Party	106,849	0.57	1
	Pacto Histórico Frente Amplio (PH–MAIS)	100,000	0.53	1
	Avancemos Nariño (Green Alliance–AICO)	99,683	0.53	1
	CR–CJL–LIGA de Gobernantes	97,234	0.52	1
	Bogotá entre todos (CR–LIGA–CJL–PUG–PVO–ASI)	96,326	0.51	0
	Coalición Fuerza Ciudadana	84,967	0.45	0
	Coalición Demócrata Amplia por la Paz (PDC–LF–ADA)	84,406	0.45	1
	Pacto Histórico Sucre Unitarios (PH–MAIS–PTC)	83,665	0.45	0
	Coalición Green Alliance–En Marcha–ASI	80,097	0.43	0
	Pacto por Risaralda (PH–MAIS–ED)	73,988	0.40	1
	Con Toda por Bogotá	73,089	0.39	0
	Coalición Green–En Marcha–La Fuerza	71,156	0.38	0
	Party of the U–Radical Change	70,300	0.38	1
	Independent Social Alliance	65,696	0.35	2
	Colombian Conservative Party–National Salvation Movement	64,494	0.34	1
	Democratic Centre–Colombian Conservative Party	64,340	0.34	1
	Fuerza Cauca (CoR–MIRA–Green Alliance)	61,138	0.33	1
	Party of the U–Partido Ecologista Colombiano	57,517	0.31	0
	Democratic Centre–New Liberalism–MIRA	53,434	0.29	0
	CR–ASI–CJL	52,495	0.28	0
	Party of the U–MIRA–National Salvation Movement–ADA	51,583	0.28	0
	Democratic Centre–Party of the U	48,695	0.26	1
	Salvation–ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Oxygen	48,346	0.26	0
	Party of the U–En Marcha	47,365	0.25	0
	Alianza por Nariño (MIRA–LF)	44,864	0.24	0
	Motociclistas y Conductores Unidos por la Causa	44,414	0.24	0
	Ahora Colombia Caldas (MIRA–NL–D&C–CoR)	43,468	0.23	0
	SUMA (PUG–Green Alliance–NL–MIRA)	41,597	0.22	0
	Radical Change–New Liberalism	39,663	0.21	0
	Broad Unitary Front	36,407	0.19	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)	36,271	0.19	0
	Avanza (LF–PDC–CoR)	36,019	0.19	0
	Esperanza Chocó (PC–MAIS)	35,956	0.19	0
	Coalición Caquetá (NL–ASI–Green Alliance)	34,011	0.18	1
	Party of the U–MIRA	33,834	0.18	0
	Revive Caquetá 20 (CR–MIRA)	30,692	0.16	1
	Putumayo También es Colombia	27,903	0.15	1
	Dignity and Commitment	26,781	0.14	0
	Ciudadanos Renovemos	23,785	0.13	0
	La Fuerza–Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement	22,365	0.12	0
	Coalición AV–ASI–PUG–PTC	20,723	0.11	0
	Putumayo Nos Une	19,640	0.10	0
	Colombia Justa Libres	19,569	0.10	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL)	19,236	0.10	0
	Por Risaralda (PC–CoR–ASI)	16,892	0.09	0
	Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation	16,261	0.09	0
	La Voz del Amazonas (MAIS–CoR)	11,958	0.06	1
	ABC Alianza Bogotá Convergente	8,990	0.05	0
	League of Anti-Corruption Governors	8,910	0.05	0
	Movement of Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	8,264	0.04	0
	Party of the U–MIRA–New Liberalism	7,930	0.04	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Radical Change	7,887	0.04	0
	Democratic Hope	7,847	0.04	0
	Oxygen Party	7,591	0.04	0
	Frente Amplio del Cesar (AV–EM–PEC)	6,940	0.04	0
	Movimiento Agrario Colombiano	5,230	0.03	0
	Partido Ecologista Colombiano	4,590	0.02	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Oxygen	4,346	0.02	0
	Coalición Alianza Córdoba	3,991	0.02	0
	Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement	3,212	0.02	0
	Pacto Frente Amplio (PDC–ED–EM)	2,968	0.02	0
	En Marcha	2,932	0.02	0
	MIRA–Dignity and Commitment–Colombian Democratic Party	2,716	0.01	0
	Pacto Green Guaviare (AV–PH–MAIS)	1,961	0.01	0
	Fuerza Tolima	1,756	0.01	0
	Colombia Reborn	1,606	0.01	0
	Frente Amplio Risaralda (PEC–LF)	908	0.00	0
	Workers' Party of Colombia	875	0.00	0
	Pacto Histórico Unitario Vichada (PH–PTC)	807	0.00	0
	Broad Democratic Alliance	535	0.00	0
Blank votes		677,340	3.62	–
Total		18,728,192	100.00	161
Valid votes		18,728,192	96.75
Invalid votes		628,363	3.25
Total votes		19,356,555	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,287,084	46.88
Source: Registraduría[5]

• Corruption in Colombia
• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system
• Government of Colombia

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Calendario Elecciones 2006 (Registraduría General de la Nación)
• Democracia a distancia: Elecciones 2006 (Portalcol.com)
• Votebien.com