| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Congreso Nacional / National Congress |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Senado / Senate |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Cámara de Diputados / Chamber of Deputies
|
| LEGAL FRAMEWORK |
| Electoral Law |
19 April 1988
Last amendment: 27 April 2015 (Act No. 20.840) |
| Mode of designation |
directly elected 50 |
| Constituencies |
15 multi-member constituencies (between 2 to 5 seats) corresponding to the country's regions |
| Voting system |
Proportional:
List Proportional Representation (List PR, open list)
Each elector votes for one list of party or coalition of parties.
Seats are distributed in accordance with the d'Hondt method.
Vacancies of elective seats arising between general elections are filled by a nominee selected by the same party.
Voting is not compulsory.
Note:
Half of the Senate is renewed every four years. Some 23 of the 50 seats were filled in 2017 in the regions of Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Atacama, Valparaíso, Maule, Araucanía and Aysén. Some 20 senators elected in 2013 will remain in post until March 2022. Following the 2017 renewal, the Senate now comprises 43 instead of 50 members.
In 2021, 27 senators will be elected from the regions of Antofagasta, Coquimbo, Metropolitana de Santiago, Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, Biobío, Los Ríos, Los Lagos, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena. They will replace the 20 outgoing senators, elected in 2013, to make the Senate a 50-member body. |
| Voter requirements |
- Age: 18 years
- Chilean citizenship (or foreigners residing in Chile for more than five years). Chileans living overseas are not entitled to vote
- Disqualifications: sentence of death, personal restraint or penal servitude, insanity, criminal conviction entailing a grave penalty (greater than or equal to three years and one day)
|
| CANDIDATES |
| Eligibility |
Qualified electors
- Age: 35 years
- Chilean citizenship
- Completion of secondary education or the equivalent
- Three years' residence in the region concerned
|
| Incompatibilities |
- Office of Minister of State
- Certain public or State-related posts
- Government contractor
|
| Candidacy requirements |
- Candidacy by parties or coalitions of parties
- Neither male nor female candidates may exceed 60% of the candidates in the list of party or coalition.
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Electoral system module
