Elections in Colombia

Colombia

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Colombia

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Elections in Colombia are regulated and controlled by the National Electoral Council which also gives information on elections and election results in for the politics of Colombia.

Colombia elects on national level a head of state - the president - and a legislature. The president is elected for a four year term by the people. The Congress' (Congreso) has two chambers. The Chamber of Representatives (Cámara de Representantes) has 162 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. The Senate of the Republic (Senado de la República) has 102 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. Colombia has a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties, a situation which has usually meant that it would be difficult for anybody to achieve significant electoral success under the banner of any other party. Dissidents from the two main parties usually have chances to win elections, if they are not confronted by strong challengers from their own former party (in which cases their traditional opponents tend to win). Recent electoral inroads made by a number of independent candidates towards the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, such as the elections of Antanas Mockus and later Luis Eduardo Garzón as mayors of Bogotá, amid a climate of perceived generalized dissatisfaction with the country's traditional political background, have tended to shows signs that past electoral trends may be weakening and the potential for diversity could be increasing.

Latest elections

2010 Presidential election

Main article: Colombian presidential election, 2010

e • d Summary of the 30 May 2010 and 20 June 2010 Colombian presidential election results

Candidates – Parties	First round		Second round
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Juan Manuel Santos – Social Party of National Unity (Partido de «la U»)	6,802,043	46.68	9,028,943	69.13
Antanas Mockus – Green Party (Partido Verde)	3,134,222	21.51	3,587,975	27.47
Germán Vargas Lleras – Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	1,473,627	10.11
Gustavo Petro – Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	1,331,267	9.14
Noemí Sanín – Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	893,819	6.13
Rafael Pardo – Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	638,302	4.38
Róbinson Devia – Voice of Conscience Movement (Movimiento la Voz de la Consciencia)	31,338	0.22
Jairo Calderón – Liberal Opening (Movimiento Apertura Liberal)	29,151	0.20
Jaime Araújo – Afro-Colombian Social Alliance (Alianza Social Afrocolombiano)	14,847	0.10
Total votes for candidates	14,348,616	98.46	12,616,918	96.60
Blank votes	223,977	1.54	444,274	3.40
Total valid votes	14,572,593	100.00	13,061,192	100.00
Null votes	170,874		198,003
Unmarked ballots	37,553		37,729
Total votes cast	14,781,020		13,296,924
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil, Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

2010 Parliamentary election

Main article: Colombian legislative election, 2010

e • d Summary of the 14 March 2010 Chamber of Representatives of Colombia election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Party of the U (Partido de la U)	2,486,824	25.9	47
Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	2,057,849	21.4	38
Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	1,856,068	19.3	37
Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	743,758	7.7	15
National Integration Party (Partido de Integración Nacional)	714,476	7.4	12
Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	563,555	5.9	4
Independent Absolute Renovation Movement (Movimiento Independiente de Renovación Absoluta)	284,244	3.0	3
Green Party (Partido Verde)	283,293	3.0	3
Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena)	182,515	1.9	1
Liberal Alternative (Alternativa Liberal)	171,090	1.8	1
Liberal Opening (Apertura Liberal)	117,871	1.2	2
Regional Integration (Integración Regional)	5,045	0.1	1
Others	143,883	1.5	—
Total valid votes (turnout 43.8%)	9,610,471	100.0	164
Sources: Adam Carr's Election Archive

e • d Summary of the 14 March 2010 Senate of Colombia election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Party of the U (Partido de la U)	2,804,123	25.8	28
Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	2,298,748	21.2	22
Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	1,763,908	16.3	17
National Integration Party (Partido de Integración Nacional)	907,468	8.4	9
Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	888,851	8.2	8
Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	848,305	7.8	8
Green Party (Partido Verde)	531,293	4.9	5
Independent Absolute Renovation Movement (Movimiento Independiente de Renovación Absoluta)	298,862	2.8	3
Citizens' Compromise for Colombia (Compromiso Ciudadano por Colombia)	182,286	1.7	0
Others	326,763	3.0	—
Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena)	—	—	1
Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (Autoridades Indígenas de Colombia)	—	—	1
Total valid votes (turnout 44.2%)	10,851,207	100.0	102
Sources: Adam Carr's Election Archive

e • d Seats reserved for indigenous

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena)	26,428	25.1	1
Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia)	23,809	22.6	1
National Integration Party (Partido de Integración Nacional)	20,887	19.9	—
Others	34,111	32.4	—
Total (turnout %)	105,235	100.0	2
Source: Adam Carr's Election Archive

2006 Presidential election

Main article: Colombian presidential election, 2006

e • d Summary of the 28 May 2006 Colombian presidential election results

Parties - Candidates	Votes	%
Álvaro Uribe Vélez - Colombia First (Primero Colombia)	7,363,421	62.35
Carlos Gaviria Díaz - Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	2,609,412	22.04
Horacio Serpa Uribe - Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	1,401,173	11.84
Antanas Mockus Sivickas - Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (Movimiento Alianza Social Indígena)	146,540	1.24
Enrique Parejo González - National Democratic Reconstruction (Reconstrucción Democrática Nacional)	44,610	0.38
Álvaro Leyva Durán - National Movement for Reconciliation (Movimiento Nacional de Reconciliación)	22,039	0.19
Carlos Arturo Rincón Barreto - Colombian Community and Communal Political Movement (Movimiento Politico Comunal y Comunidad Colombiano)	20,477	0.17
Total votes for candidates	11,607,672	98.05
Blank votes	230,749	1.95
Total valid votes	11,838,421	100.00
Null votes	136,326
Unmarked ballots	84,041
Total votes cast (turnout 45.1%)	12,058,788
Registered voters	26,731,700
Source: Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil.

2006 Parliamentary election

Main article: Colombian legislative election, 2006

e • d Summary of the 12 March 2006 Chamber of Representatives of Colombia election results

Parties	Votes	%	Seats
Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	2,646,404	19.0	31
Social National Unity Party/Party of the U (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, also known as Partido de la U)	1,453,353	16.7	28
Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	1,363,656	15.8	26
Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	932,207	10.7	18
Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	708,664	8.2	14
Citizens' Convergence (Convergencia Ciudadana)	397,903	4.6	8
Wings - Team Colombia Movement (Movimiento Alas Equipo Colombia)	370,789	4.3	8
Mira Movement (Movimiento Mira)	233,920	2.7	5
Democratic Colombia Party (Partido Colombia Demócrata)	215,753	2.5	5
Liberal Opening (Apertura Liberal)	199,810	2.3	4
National Movement (Movimiento Nacional)	175,012	2.0	4
United People's Movement (Movimiento Popular Unido)	129,977	1.5	3
For the Country of our Dreams (Por el País que soñamos)	99,565	1.1	2
Regional Integration Movement (Movimiento Integración Regional)	91,547	1.1	2
Huila New and Liberalism (Huila Nuevo y Liberalismo)	80,688	0.9	2
Social Action Party (Partido de Acción Social)	52,340	0.6	0
Renovation Movement Labour Action (Movimiento Renovación Acción Laboral)	33,308	0.4	0
National Salvation Movement (Movimiento de Salvación Nacional)	28,975	0.3	0
People's Participation Movement (Movimiento de Participación Popular)	18,449	0.2	0
Progressive National Movement (Movimiento Nacional Progresista)	8,146	0.1	0
Total votes for parties (turnout 40.54%)	8,678,535	100.0	162
Sources: Adam Carr and Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil

e • d Summary of the 12 March 2006 Senate of Colombia election results

Parties	%	Seats
Social National Unity Party/Party of the U (Partido Social de Unidad Nacional, also known as Partido de la U)	17.49	20
Colombian Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Colombiano)	16.13	18
Colombian Liberal Party (Partido Liberal Colombiano)	15.52	18
Radical Change (Cambio Radical)	13.36	15
Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo Democrático Alternativo)	9.74	10
Citizens' Convergence (Convergencia Ciudadana)	6.25	7
Wings - Team Colombia Movement (Movimiento Alas Equipo Colombia)	4.68	5
Democratic Colombia Party (Partido Colombia Demócratica)	2.85	3
Mira Movement (Movimiento Mira)	2.35	2
Living Colombia Movement (Movimiento Colombia Viva)	2.46	2
Let the Moreno play movement (Movimiento Dejen Jugar al Moreno)	1.50	0
C4	0.88	0
Visionaries with Antanas Mockus (Visionarios con Antanas Mockus)	0.77	0
Comunitarian Participation Movement (Movimiento de Participación Comunitaria)	0.56	0
Communal and Comunitarian Movement of Colombia (Movimiento Comunal y Comunitario de Colombia)	0.42	0
Colombia Unite Movement (Movimiento Únete Colombia)	0.17	0
Independent Conservatism (Conservatismo Independiente)	0.14	0
National Democratic Reconstruction (Reconstrucción Democrática Nacional)	0.08	0
Progressive National Movement (Movimiento Nacional Progresista)	0.09	0
Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena)		2
Total valid votes (turnout 40.54%)		102
Sources: Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil, Caracol Radio

e • d 2006 elections to the 2 seats reserved for Indigenous in the Senate of Colombia

Parties		Votes	%	Seats
Indigenous Social Alliance (Alianza Social Indigena)	ASI	44,557	28.27	1
Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (Autoridades Indigenas de Colombia)	AICO	21,304	13.52	1
Total (turnout %)
Source: Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil. Note: As the blank vote percentage was 58.21% (more than 50%), this special election must be repeated, with the same parties but different candidates [1]

Past elections

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

References

• Presidencia de Colombia - Ley de Garantias electorales

External links

• Adam Carr's Election Archive
• Calendario Elecciones 2006 (Registraduría General de la Nación)
• Democracia a distancia: Elecciones 2006 (Portalcol.com)
• Votebien.com