Colombia

Colombia is a social welfare state, organized as a unitary, decentralized republic, democratic, participatory, and pluralistic (Art. 1, Political Constitution of the Republic of Colombia).

Administratively, Colombia is divided into departments, districts, municipalities, and indigenous territories. Municipalities represent the second level of administrative division, as do districts, which operate under a special regime granting them authorities distinct from those in ordinary municipalities. According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Colombia currently has 32 departments, 1,102 municipalities, 11 districts, 18 Non-Municipalized Areas (ANM), and the San Andrés Island.

The Congress is bicameral, composed of the House of Representatives (lower house) and the Senate. The House has 188 legislators, elected nationally by territorial electoral districts, special constituencies, and an international constituency. The Senate consists of 108 seats: 100 elected nationally, 2 for the special indigenous constituency, 5 for the Comunes party (formerly the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, FARC, until 2026), and 1 for the presidential candidate with the second-highest vote count.

Each municipality or district is governed by a mayor who holds political authority and serves as the head of local administration and legal representative of the territorial entity. Additionally, there is a political-administrative body, the Municipal Council, elected by popular vote and composed of no fewer than 7 and no more than 21 members depending on population size. This council exercises political oversight over the municipal administration.

The President, members of the House and Senate, mayors, and councilors are elected for four-year terms.

The President is elected by absolute majority. Mayors are elected by simple majority in a single round. Specifically, the Mayor of Bogotá must win by a margin of at least ten percentage points over the runner-up. Council members and local delegates (ediles) are elected under a threshold and seat allocation system.

Closed lists with preferential voting.

The Senate uses a national constituency plus a special national indigenous constituency, which operates under an electoral quotient system. The House of Representatives is elected by territorial constituencies, where each department and Bogotá constitute a territorial constituency. Additionally, there are Special Transitional Peace Constituencies allocating 16 seats in the House. Local elections for mayors use single-member constituencies; council members are elected in multi-member constituencies.

Yes. Law 1475 of 2011 mandates that candidate lists for collegiate bodies include at least 30% women. Complementarily, Law 581 of 2000 ("Quota Law") requires that 30% of public office positions at all decision-making levels be held by women.

Political Constitution of the Republic of Colombia (1991, with 2005 reforms); Law 136 of 1994 on municipal organization and functioning; Law 1617 of 2013 establishing the regime for Special Districts.

Colombia's Electoral Justice system has two levels. The National Electoral Council (CNE) is an autonomous and independent body that forms part of the Electoral Organization alongside the National Civil Registry (Art. 120 of the Political Constitution). The CNE is composed of nine magistrates elected by the Congress of the Republic for a period of four years through the proportional representation system (Art. 264 of the Political Constitution). The National Civil Registry is responsible for organizing and processing vote counts and electoral results.