Elections in Chile
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Chile holds nationwide presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections.
The electoral process is supervised by the Electoral Service (Servicio Electoral), which is independent from the government. Winners are officially proclaimed by the Election Qualifying Court (Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones).
Men and women vote in separate voting venues with the armed forces and uniformed police (Carabineros) guarding polling stations.
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[edit] Electorate
All citizens of Chile as well as foreigners legally residing in Chile for at least five years, who are 18 years of age or older, are eligible to enroll and subsequently vote in the elections. Enrollment in Chile is voluntary, however, once electors are registered, it is compulsory to vote in each and every election. Chileans are not allowed to vote overseas. In April 2009, the country's constitution was modified so that the vote is voluntary and registration automatic. The new system will not come into effect until the organic law regulating it is approved and published.
Women's suffrage was achieved in 1934 for municipal elections only. Before that only men were allowed to vote in every election. In 1949 voting was extended to men and women over 21 who knew how to read. Full universal suffrage was achieved in 1970, with men and women over 18 eligible to vote, regardless of their ability to read and write.
[edit] Presidential elections
Presidential elections elect a president, who serves as chief of state and head of government for a period of four years (six years between 1994-2006 and before 1973). Perpetual non-consecutive reelection is permitted.
The President is directly-elected nationwide by absolute majority. If no candidate obtains such majority, a runoff between the two most voted candidates is held.
Before 1989, the president was elected by a simple majority and then a vote by Congress was necessary to confirm the winner.
An independent candidate to successfully register his/her candidacy he/she must collect a number of signatures equal to at least 0.5% of the number of people who last voted in the Chamber of Deputies election, nation-wide. For the next election in 2009, the number is 36,037 signatures.
According to the Constitution, presidential elections take place 90 days before the current president's term expires (usually December 11). A runoff election —if necessary— takes place 30 days after the first election.
[edit] Parliamentary elections
Chile's bicameral Congress consists of a Chamber of Deputies (lower house) and a Senate (upper house). The country is divided into 60 electoral districts for the lower house and 19 senatorial constituencies for the Senate. (See Electoral division of Chile for details.) Each electoral district or senatorial constituency elect two representatives.
Parliamentary elections elect 38 senators and 120 deputies. Deputies serve for four years and senators for eight years, with half the Senate renewed every four years. Both deputies and senators may seek reelection indefinitely.
The Constitution establishes that parliamentary elections will be held in conjunction with presidential elections.
The law permits candidates to run as either independent or within a "list." A list is made up of up to two candidates per electoral district or senatorial constituency. There are single-party lists and multiple-party lists (or "pacts"). Within an electoral district or senatorial constituency, pacts may include candidates either from the same political party, two different parties, a combination of a party candidate with an independent candidate, or two independent candidates. Single-party lists are bound to include only candidates from one party and are not allowed to include independent candidates. A political party can only be part of one list, nation-wide. An independent candidate not running within a list is termed a "nominee" and to successfully register his/her candidacy he/she must collect a number of signatures equal to at least 0.5% of the number of people who last voted in that electoral district or senatorial constituency.
Two conditions must be met for a two-candidate list to win both seats in a constituency: first, it must outpoll any other list or nominee, and second, it must win more than twice the amount of votes of the second most-voted list or nominee. If this fails, then the two most voted lists or nominees obtain one seat each. Within a two-candidate list, the seat is awarded to the most voted candidate of the two.
[edit] Criticism
This system was established by the military dictatorship that ruled the country until 1990, replacing the proportional system in place prior to 1973. Gerrymandering took place in the drawing of electoral districts to ensure a substantial representation of the right in every electoral district. (See Gerrymandering#Chile for additional details.) The dictatorship also made it nearly impossible to change the system without the vote of the right, as a three fifths majority in any chamber is needed to modify it.
The Concertación governing coalition believes the system undermines its majority in Congress, while overestimating the representation of the right. The right views the system as necessary for the country's stability and governance as it avoids the atomization of power, encouraging the creation of large coalitions. The far-left sees the system as undemocratic, because it negates representation to a substantial minority.
Another common criticism is that some voters are overrepresented while others are underrepresented, because electoral districts and, especially, senatorial constituencies vary greatly in population. For example, the vote of a voter in the scarcely populated senatorial constituency 19 (Aisén Region) is worth nearly 27 times the vote of a voter in the populous senatorial constituency 8 (eastern Santiago Metropolitan Region), as all constituencies elect two seats.
[edit] Municipal elections
Municipal elections elect one mayor and a number of councilmen per municipality. Mayors are elected by a simple majority, while councilmen seats (ranging from 6 to 10, depending on the number of registered voters in each municipality) are decided using the D'Hondt method. Mayors are elected in a separate ballot since 2004. Indefinite reelection is allowed.
The law establishes that municipal elections will take place every four years on the last Sunday of October. The newly elected authorities take office on December 6 of that same year.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Archive of recent elections (Chilean Ministry of Interior)
- Archive of past elections
- Chile's Electoral Service (Servel)
- Adam Carr's Election Archive
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