Electoral system family

Colombia, Constitution  (1991, as amended in 2015), accessed 9 March 2022

ARTICLE 262. The political parties, movements, and significant groups of citizens that decide to participate in processes of popular election, will register candidates and unique listings, the number of members will not exceed that of seats in the legislature or offices to promote the respective constituency, except in those that elect up to two members, which can be composed of up to three (3) candidates.

The selection of candidates of political parties and movements with legal capacity will be made according to the mechanisms of internal democracy, following the provisions of the law and statutes. In the process of making lists, all must observe in a progressive manner, among others, the principles of parity, alternation, and universality, according to the provisions of law.

ach political party and movement can opt for the mechanisms of preferential voting. In such a case, the elector can indicate the candidate of preference among members of the list that appear in the electoral ticket. The list will be reordered according to the quantity of votes gathered by each of the candidates. The allocation of seats among the members of the respective lists will be made accordingly in descending order starting with the candidate that obtains the greatest number of preferential votes.

In the case of political parties and political movements that chose the mechanism of preferential vote, the votes for the political party or movement that were not attributed by the elector to any particular candidate, will be counted in favor of the respective list to apply the norms about threshold and electoral quotient, but it will not be considered for the re-organization of the list. When the elector votes simultaneously for the political party or movement and for the candidate of its preference within the corresponding list, the vote will be valid and will be considered in favor of the candidate.

The law will regulate the principal means of financing campaigns, the mechanisms of internal democracy in the party, the inscription of candidates and own lists or the coalition in uninominal positions or public institutions, the administration of resources and the protection of rights of the candidates. The political parties and movements with legal capacity that together obtain an amount of votes of up to fifteen percent (15 %) of the valid votes within the respective constituency, can present the list of candidates in a coalition for public institutions.