Nicaragua

Nicaragua is a democratic republic. Democracy is exercised in a direct, participatory, and representative manner. The delegated functions of Sovereign Power are manifested through the Legislative, Executive, Judicial, and Electoral Powers (Article 7 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua).

The national territory is divided for administrative purposes into departments, autonomous regions on the Caribbean Coast, and municipalities. The laws governing this matter determine the creation, size, number, organization, structure, and functioning of the various territorial districts. The municipality is the basic unit of the country's political and administrative division, and municipalities enjoy political, administrative, and financial autonomy. Their administration and government are the responsibility of the municipal authorities.

Legislative Power is exercised by the National Assembly by delegation and mandate of the people. The National Assembly is composed of 90 deputies and their respective alternates, elected by universal, equal, direct, free, and secret vote. Also forming part of the National Assembly as deputies, members, and alternates, respectively, are the former president of the republic and the former vice president elected by direct popular vote in the immediately preceding term; and, as deputies, members, and alternates, the candidates for president and vice president of the republic who participated in the corresponding election and obtained second place.

The government of municipalities is the responsibility of a Municipal Council with deliberative, regulatory, and administrative powers. It is composed of the mayor, deputy mayor, and councilors, all of whom are elected by the people through universal, equal, direct, free, and secret suffrage, in accordance with the law.

The president and vice president serve for a term of five years, as do the deputies of the National Assembly. The term of municipal authorities is also five years, counted from the date of taking office before the Supreme Electoral Council.

National deputies will be elected through a proportional representation system, whereby the first candidates on each list will be declared elected as deputies and alternates, until the number of seats obtained by each organization is reached, using the national electoral quotient. The election of deputies by departmental constituency and autonomous regions is carried out by initially assigning each political organization seats based on the departmental or autonomous region electoral quotient. The candidates who obtain a relative majority in the vote count in each municipality of the country are elected mayor and deputy mayor. In addition, the mayor and deputy mayor must be chosen based on the principle of gender equality and equity in the exercise of local power, with one being a woman and the other a man, maintaining proportionality between the two genders. The election of councilors is carried out through municipal constituency using the proportional representation system by electoral quotient and with the same majority method used for the election of departmental or regional deputies.

Closed lists.

Twenty national deputies are elected in the national constituency and 70 in the departmental constituencies and autonomous regions. As for local authorities, although the mayor is first on the list of councilors, he or she functions as a single-member representative. In the case of councilors, it is a multi-member system.

Yes, the Electoral Law (2000), amended in 2022, and the Municipalities Law (1988), amended in 2014. They establish that political parties or party alliances participating in regional, municipal, and National Assembly and Central American Parliament elections must include 50% men and 50% women on their candidate lists, arranged equally and presented alternately. The Supreme Electoral Council must ensure that the total list of those elected at the national level as mayors and deputy mayors is composed of 50% women and 50% men. If this is not achieved as a direct result of the election, the Supreme Electoral Council shall request the political parties or alliances of political parties that have won the election of more than one ticket at the national level to make the necessary adjustments to the list of their elected candidates by reversing the female-male composition of the tickets as necessary until a balance of 50% women and 50% men among the elected mayors is achieved. When the total number of positions or seats to be elected at the national level is an odd number, in the elections for mayors, deputy mayors, deputies to the National Assembly, and deputies to the Central American Parliament, the Supreme Electoral Council, prior to the declaration of those elected, must ensure that in the final list of the respective declaration of those elected, 50% plus one of the formulas or seats correspond to women.

Political Constitution of 1987 and Law No. 40, “Municipalities Law” of 2020.

The Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) is the electoral authority of the Republic of Nicaragua. The CSE is composed of seven permanent magistrates and three alternate magistrates, elected by the National Assembly from separate lists proposed for each position by the president of the republic or by the deputies of the National Assembly.