Local Elections of Mayors and Counciliers

October 26th

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Description of Electoral System:

(Courtesy of IFES election guide, Chilean Constitution and Electoral laws)

The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 6-year term. In the Senate (Senado), 38 members are elected by popular vote to serve 8-year terms and 10 members are designated. In the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados) 120 members are elected by popular vote to serve 4-year terms. One-half of the members in the Senate are elected every four years.

Chile also has a bipartisan party system, and a binomial majority electoral system.

Suffrage in Chile is personal, egalitarian, secret and mandatory.  Also, are considered citizens, persons over 18 years old with suffrage rights (Art. 13 of the Constitution), (Arts. 60- 61 of the Law N° 18.700).

Presidential elections are won by absolute majority and also have a second round election for the two candidates who obtained the highest percentage of votes (Art. 16 of the Constitution).

 Chile has a bicameral congress and the elections are ruled by the proportional system using the D´hondt method, with a closed and non blocked list . They haven´t any type of legal barrier [1].

The National Congress is constituted in two chambers (Art. 42 of the Constitution). The national territory is divided in constituencies, obtaining 19 legislators for the Senate and 60 for the Deputies. The election is for two members by constituency (Arts. 178-179-181 of the Law N° 18.700).

Finally, the electoral management is divided in two autonomous organisms: the "Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones" (TRICEL), the supreme electoral justice court. The TRICEL qualifies and verifies all the electoral processes in the country. It’s responsible of the general scrutiny and supervises the legaliy of Presidential and Parliamentary, plebiscites and all electoral controversy generated (Art. 84 of the Constitution, Art.9 of the Law N° 18.460). The other electoral organism is the "Electoral Services" (SERVEL) organism. This autonomous organism is in charge of organizing, controlling  and supervising all  electoral acts. (Art. 87 of the Law N° 18.556). 

[1] Nohlen, Dieter: “Sistemas electorales parlamentarios y presidenciales” ON, Nohlen, Dieter, Daniel Zovatto y Sonia Picado (comp.): “Tratado de derecho Electoral comparado de América Latina”. Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1998. pp. 169

Electoral Systems Snapshot

(Courtesy of International IDEA)

*Click on link for definition

WANT MORE ELECTION-RELATED STATS FOR CHILE? Go to "election databases" on the left-hand menu of this page OR comparative data on the right-hand menu and choose your area of interest.

Elections in Chile

(courtesy of wikipedia)

Congress seats are elected through a "binomial system", in which two candidates are elected per constituency. Because Chile is dominated by two political coalitions —Concertación and Alliance for Chile— it is extremely difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party. This system was established by the military dictatorship that ruled the country until 1990, replacing the previous proportional system. Some view this system as undemocratic, while others say it has given the country stability. In April 2007, president Michelle Bachelet sent a bill to Congress to reform this system, so that 20 additional seats in the Chamber of Deputies are elected under the rules of a proportional system, in which parties or coalitions obtaining over 5% of the votes are guaranteed representation in Congress.

In municipal elections, mayors are elected by a simple majority, while councilmen seats are decided using the D'Hondt method.