At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Alvaro URIBE Velez *
• Head of Government: President Alvaro URIBE Velez
• 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.

* Only one round is necessary if one candidate receives over 50% of the vote.

Description of electoral system:

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

* Parties may present multiple lists, and they may choose to have lists be open or closed. There is one, nationwide district with a threshold of 2 percent. There is a separate election by indigenous groups for 2 of the 102 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.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 43,835,744 (2006)
• Registered Voters: 26,595,171 (2006)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 22,194,544 (2006)

·         Is Colombia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Colombia ratified CEDAW: Yes (19 January 1982)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 14 (House of Representatives); 12 (Senate) (following 2006 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 97 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Colombia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Colombia ratified CRPD: Yes (10 May 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 6,575,361 (est.)