Paraguay

A social state governed by the rule of law, unitary, indivisible, and decentralized, which adopts representative, participatory, and pluralistic democracy for its government, based on the recognition of human dignity.

The national territory is divided into 17 departments and a Capital District. The departments, in turn, are divided into 261 municipalities or districts, which, within the limits of the Constitution and the laws, enjoy political, administrative, and regulatory autonomy for the management of their interests, and self-sufficiency in the collection and investment of their resources. Municipalities are local government bodies with legal personality.

The Congress is bicameral and consists of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The members and alternates of both chambers are directly elected by the people, in accordance with the law. Alternate members shall replace members in the event of death, resignation, or incapacity, for the remainder of the constitutional term or for the duration of the incapacity, if it is temporary. In all other cases, the rules of each chamber shall apply. The Chamber of Deputies is the departmental representative chamber and is composed of at least 80 full members and an equal number of alternate members, elected directly by the people in departmental polling stations. The city of Asunción shall constitute an Electoral College with representation in that Chamber (Article 221 of the Constitution of Paraguay). The Senate shall be composed of at least 45 members and 30 alternates, elected directly by the people in a single national constituency (Article 223 of the Constitution of Paraguay).

The government of the municipalities are headed by a mayor and a municipal council, elected by direct suffrage by legally eligible persons.

The President of the Republic and the Vice President shall serve a non-renewable five-year term and may not be re-elected under any circumstances. Legislators shall serve a five-year term, as shall municipal authorities.

The President of the Republic and the Vice President are elected jointly and directly by the people, by a simple majority of votes. Both for Congress and for the election of municipal authorities, a proportional representation system using the D'Hondt method is used.

Closed and unlocked lists.

For the purposes of electing the President and members of the Senate, a single national constituency is used. Deputies are elected in departmental constituencies. In the case of municipal elections, each electoral district corresponds to each municipality, and they are single-member constituencies for the mayor and multi-member constituencies for municipal councils.

Yes, Law No. 834 (1996) of the Electoral Code, Article 32, amended by Law No. 1830 in 2001, establishes that women must be promoted to elected office in a percentage of no less than 20% and that a significant proportion of them must be appointed to public decision-making positions. In order to guarantee the participation of women in the collegiate bodies to be elected, one female candidate must be nominated for every five places on the lists, with each party, movement, or alliance promoting lists being free to set the order of precedence (Article 32, paragraph r). Political parties, movements, or alliances that do not comply with these provisions in their internal elections will be penalized by not having their lists registered with the respective electoral courts.

Political Constitution of 1992 and Organic Municipal Law Nº 3966.

The Electoral Justice System is composed of a Superior Electoral Court (TSJE), courts, tribunals, public prosecutors' offices, and other bodies to be defined by law, which will determine its organization and functions. The Superior Electoral Court is the highest authority in electoral matters and exercises its jurisdiction throughout the national territory. It convenes, directs, supervises, and judges elections. It is composed of three members, who shall be elected and removed in the manner established for the justices of the Supreme Court of Justice.