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SPAIN
Congreso de los Diputados (Congress of Deputies)
ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Electoral system module

Parliament name (generic / translated) Las Cortes Generales / The Cortes
Structure of parliament Bicameral
Chamber name (generic / translated) Congreso de los Diputados / Congress of Deputies
Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) Senado / Senate
LEGAL FRAMEWORK
Electoral Law 16 June 1985
Last amendment: 23/03/1995
Mode of designation directly elected 350
Constituencies - 50 multi-member (2 seats minimum per province, the rest allotted according to population) constituencies corresponding to the country's provinces
- 2 single-member constituencies (North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla)
Voting system Mixed: - multi-member constituencies: blocked party lists and the d'Hondt system of proportional representation; each voter chooses one list of those made available in the constituency (province)
- single-member constituencies: simple majority vote
Vacancies are filled by the "next-in-line" candidate on the list of the same party which held the seat in question (or by substitutes in Ceuta and Melilla).
Voting is not compulsory.
Voter requirements - age: 18 years
- Spanish citizenship
- full possession of political rights
CANDIDATES
Eligibility Qualified electors
- age: 18 years
- Spanish citizenship
Incompatibilities - certain high-ranking government, political and public posts
- members of the armed forces
- members of the assembly of an Autonomous Community
- members of an electoral committee (junta)
Candidacy requirements - by duly registered political associations and federations, coalitions of the same, or by at least 0.1% (and no fewer than 500) of the constituency's registered electorate

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