Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Gustavo PETRO
• Head of Government: President Gustavo PETRO
• 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 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.

• The Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes) consists of 188 seats, of which 161 “ordinary” seats will be contested by political parties 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. All members serve 4-year terms.

• The Senate (Senado) will consist of 108 seats, of which 102 will be directly elected.*** Elections for 100 of these seats will occur in a single national constituency, while the remaining two seats will be decided in a special national constituency limited to indigenous communities. Both constituencies will use list proportional representation, with remaining seats being allocated on the basis of greatest remainders. All members serve 4-year terms.[4]

*Following a 2015 electoral reform, successful presidential candidates are limited to serving one term.

**An additional five seats are reserved for members of the People’s Alternative Revolutionary Force (FARC) exclusively for the 2018 and 2022 elections as a result of the 2016 Colombian peace process. One seat is reserved for the runner-up vice-presidential candidate. Another two seats are reserved for the Afro-descendant communities, one seat is reserved for the Special Indigenous Circumscription, one seat is reserved Colombians residing abroad, and finally – pending regulation – one seat may be reserved for a Raizal candidate from San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. Finally, sixteen seats of the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace will also be elected for the first time. [5],[6]

***An additional five seats are reserved for FARC representatives (see above), with an additional non-FARC seat reserved for the runner-up presidential candidate.