Elections in Colombia

Elections in Colombia are regulated and controlled by the National Electoral Council (CNE) which also provides information on elections and election results.

At the national level, the President of Colombia is elected as the head of state and the bicameral Congress of Colombia as the legislature every four years. The Congress of Colombia is composed of 162 members of the Chamber of Representatives and 102 members of the Senate. Both are elected by proportional representation.

Colombia historically had a two-party system, dominated by the Colombian Liberal Party and Colombian Conservative Party, in which it could be difficult for third parties to find success. Since the implementation of the 1991 constitution, there has been a proliferation of third parties, which have won most presidential elections in the 21st century.

Colombia's electoral system has a pervasive corruption issue, with electoral fraud, bribery, and other scandals occurring at both the municipal and national levels.

Electoral system

Presidential

Colombian presidents are elected for four-year terms using a two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a runoff is held between the top two candidates.^[1] The vice president is elected on the same ticket as the president. Presidents are limited to a single four-year term, and Article 191 of the constitution requires candidates to be Colombian by birth and at least thirty years old. In line with the constitution, Colombian citizens by birth or by naturalization, aged eighteen or older have the right to vote. Several scenarios can cause the loss of the right to vote, as outlined in the constitution. Citizens in detention centers can vote from the establishments determined by the National Civil Registry. The civil registry inscription is not automatic, and citizens must go to the regional office of the registry to register.^[2] Legislative Act No. 2 of 2015 established that the runner-up in the presidential elections is given a seat in the Senate and their vice president candidate becomes a member of the Chamber of Representatives.^[3]

In order to be accepted as a candidate, applicants must either have the backing of a recognized political party in order to run as their official candidate, or to collect a minimum number of signatures in order to run as an independent candidate.^{[citation needed]}

Parliamentary

Department level

Schedule

Presidential and parliamentary elections are held every four years in Colombia.

Latest elections

2026 presidential election


Candidate		Running mate	Party	First round		Second round
Candidate		Running mate	Party	Votes	%	Votes	%
	Abelardo de la Espriella	José Manuel Restrepo	Independent^[a]	10,361,499	43.75	12,959,542	49.66
	Iván Cepeda	Aida Quilcué	Historic Pact	9,688,361	40.90	12,708,712	48.70
	Paloma Valencia	Juan Daniel Oviedo	Democratic Centre	1,639,685	6.92
	Sergio Fajardo	Edna Bonilla [es]	Dignity and Commitment [es]	1,009,073	4.26
	Claudia López	Leonardo Huerta	Independent	225,517	0.95
	Santiago Botero Jaramillo [es]	Carlos Cuevas	Independent	206,140	0.87
	Mauricio Lizcano	Pedro de la Torre	Independent	53,839	0.23
	Miguel Uribe Londoño	Luisa Fernanda Villegas	Colombian Democratic Party [es]	28,657	0.12
	Sondra Macollins Garvin	Leonardo Karam Helo	Independent	19,889	0.08
	Roy Barreras	Martha Zamora	The Force [es]	14,108	0.06
	Luis Gilberto Murillo	Luz María Zapata	Independent	13,270	0.06
	Carlos Caicedo	Nelson Alacrón	Independent	12,694	0.05
	Gustavo Matamoros Camacho [es]	Mila Paz	Colombian Ecologist Party [es]	5,627	0.02
Blank votes				406,970	1.72	426,848	1.64
Total				23,685,329	100.00	26,095,102	100.00

Valid votes				23,685,329	98.78	26,095,102	99.05
Invalid votes				292,975	1.22	250,262	0.95
Total votes				23,978,304	100.00	26,345,364	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				41,421,973	57.89	41,421,973	63.60
Source: Registraduria (Round 1) Registraduria (Round 2)

2026 parliamentary election

Senate



Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Historic Pact	4,471,238	22.95	25
	Democratic Centre	3,072,702	15.77	17
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,276,223	11.68	13
	Alliance for Colombia^[b]	1,905,680	9.78	10
	Colombian Conservative Party	1,853,403	9.51	10
	Party of the U	1,554,812	7.98	9
	Radical Change–ALMA Coalition^[c]	1,241,509	6.37	7
	Colombia Now^[d]	891,907	4.58	5
	National Salvation Movement	707,764	3.63	4
	Frente Amplio Unitario [es]^[e]	396,042	2.03	0
	Creemos Colombia [es]	227,957	1.17	0
	Coalición Fuerza Ciudadana	114,722	0.59	0
	Con Toda por Colombia	105,393	0.54	0
	Oxygen Party	27,879	0.14	0
	Patriots	10,755	0.06	0
	Secure and Prosperous Colombia	10,754	0.06	0
Blank votes		616,998	3.17	–
Total		19,485,738	100.00	100

Valid votes		19,485,738	94.80
Invalid votes		1,069,091	5.20
Total votes		20,554,829	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,287,084	49.79
Indigenous seats
	Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement [es]	88,294	29.05	1
	Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	72,927	23.99	1
	Unity in Minga Movement for Colombia	56,060	18.44	0
	Association of Traditional Indigenous Authorities	16,628	5.47	0
	Yes Movement	3,001	0.99	0
	Association of Indigenous Councils for Colombia	2,644	0.87	0
	National Indigenous Association of Colombia	2,434	0.80	0
	Tevis Indigenous Council	1,413	0.46	0
	ACMIZSAM	1,067	0.35	0
	Trietnico Gobernativo Trigo	972	0.32	0
Blank votes		58,539	19.26	–
Total		303,979	100.00	2

Valid votes		303,979	74.44
Invalid/blank votes		104,357	25.56
Total votes		408,336	100.00
Source: RTVC^[4]

Chamber of Representatives



Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Historic Pact	3,880,148	20.63	36
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,103,122	11.18	25
	Democratic Centre	2,527,214	13.44	24
	Colombian Conservative Party	1,957,004	10.41	18
	Party of the U	1,043,537	5.55	11
	Radical Change	806,205	4.29	9
	Green Alliance	654,197	3.48	4
	National Salvation Movement	410,416	2.18	1
	Democratic Centre–MIRA	356,437	1.90	3
	Pr1mero Córdoba (CoR [es]–MIRA)	340,337	1.81	2
	Creemos Colombia [es]	285,637	1.52	2
	Ahora Colombia (MIRA–NL–D&C [es])	263,954	1.40	1
	Historic Pact–Green Alliance	213,128	1.13	4
	Coalición Liberal Colombia Reborn [es]	145,370	0.77	1
	La Fuerza [es]	140,092	0.74	1
	New Liberalism	133,652	0.71	0
	MIRA–Dignity and Commitment [es]	121,489	0.65	0
	CR–LAU–MSN–OXI	118,097	0.63	1
	Green Alliance–En Marcha [es]	112,328	0.60	1
	Colombian Democratic Party [es]	106,553	0.57	1
	Pacto Histórico – Frente Amplio (PH–MAIS [es])	100,288	0.53	1
	Avancemos Nariño (Green Alliance–AICO)	99,820	0.53	1
	Bogotá entre todos (CR–LIGA–CJL–PUG–PVO–ASI)	96,155	0.51	0
	CR–CJL–LIGA de Gobernantes	96,135	0.51	1
	Pacto Histórico Sucre Unitarios (PH–MAIS [es]–PTC [es])	84,870	0.45	0
	Coalición Fuerza Ciudadana	84,861	0.45	0
	Coalición Demócrata Amplia por la Paz (PDC [es]–LF [es]–ADA)	84,298	0.45	1
	Coalición Green Alliance–En Marcha [es]–ASI	79,449	0.42	0
	Pacto por Risaralda (PH–MAIS [es]–ED)	74,621	0.40	1
	Con Toda por Bogotá	74,131	0.39	0
	Coalición Green–En Marcha [es]–La Fuerza [es]	71,357	0.38	0
	Party of the U–Radical Change	70,122	0.37	1
	Colombian Conservative Party–National Salvation Movement	64,368	0.34	1
	Democratic Centre–Colombian Conservative Party	64,054	0.34	1
	Independent Social Alliance	65,315	0.35	2
	Fuerza Cauca (CoR [es]–MIRA–Green Alliance)	60,317	0.32	1
	Party of the U–Partido Ecologista Colombiano [es]	56,958	0.30	0
	Democratic Centre–New Liberalism–MIRA	53,334	0.28	0
	CR–ASI–CJL	52,325	0.28	0
	Party of the U–MIRA–National Salvation Movement–ADA	51,175	0.27	0
	Democratic Centre–Party of the U	49,172	0.26	1
	Salvation–ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Oxygen	48,046	0.26	0
	Party of the U–En Marcha [es]	46,987	0.25	0
	Motociclistas y Conductores Unidos por la Causa	45,089	0.24	0
	Alianza por Nariño (MIRA–LF [es])	44,612	0.24	0
	Ahora Colombia Caldas (MIRA–NL–D&C [es]–CoR [es])	43,484	0.23	0
	SUMA (PUG–Green Alliance–NL–MIRA)	41,301	0.22	0
	Radical Change–New Liberalism	39,756	0.21	0
	Esperanza Chocó (PC–MAIS [es])	36,994	0.20	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)	36,107	0.19	0
	Avanza (LF [es]–PDC [es]–CoR [es])	35,609	0.19	0
	Broad Unitary Front [es]	34,885	0.19	0
	Party of the U–MIRA	33,627	0.18	0
	Coalición Caquetá (NL–ASI–Green Alliance)	33,367	0.18	1
	Revive Caquetá 20 (CR–MIRA)	30,284	0.16	1
	Putumayo También es Colombia	27,686	0.15	1
	Dignity and Commitment [es]	25,472	0.14	0
	Ciudadanos Renovemos	23,036	0.12	0
	La Fuerza [es]–Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement [es]	22,089	0.12	0
	Coalición AV–ASI–PUG–PTC [es]	20,081	0.11	0
	Putumayo Nos Une	19,841	0.11	0
	Colombia Justa Libres	19,605	0.10	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL)	19,262	0.10	0
	Por Risaralda (PC–CoR [es]–ASI)	16,747	0.09	0
	Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation	16,179	0.09	0
	La Voz del Amazonas (MAIS [es]–CoR [es])	12,406	0.07	1
	League of Anti-Corruption Governors	8,710	0.05	0
	Party of the U–MIRA–New Liberalism	7,957	0.04	0
	ABC Alianza Bogotá Convergente	7,943	0.04	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Radical Change	7,889	0.04	0
	Democratic Hope	7,658	0.04	0
	Oxygen Party	7,450	0.04	0
	Movement of Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	7,419	0.04	0
	Frente Amplio del Cesar (AV–EM–PEC [es])	6,747	0.04	0
	Movimiento Agrario Colombiano	5,303	0.03	0
	Partido Ecologista Colombiano [es]	4,520	0.02	0
	ALMA (LIGA–CJL–ADA)–Oxygen	4,324	0.02	0
	Coalición Alianza Córdoba	3,936	0.02	0
	Indigenous and Social Alternative Movement [es]	3,246	0.02	0
	Pacto Frente Amplio (PDC [es]–ED–EM [es])	2,947	0.02	0
	En Marcha [es]	2,867	0.02	0
	MIRA–Dignity and Commitment [es]–Colombian Democratic Party [es]	2,716	0.01	0
	Pacto Green Guaviare (AV–PH–MAIS [es])	1,976	0.01	0
	Fuerza Tolima	1,722	0.01	0
	Colombia Reborn [es]	1,511	0.01	0
	Frente Amplio Risaralda (PEC [es]–LF [es])	908	0.00	0
	Pacto Histórico Unitario – Vichada (PH–PTC [es])	856	0.00	0
	Workers' Party of Colombia [es]	719	0.00	0
	Broad Democratic Alliance	533	0.00	0
Blank votes		681,007	3.62	–
Total		18,805,458	100.00	161

Valid votes		18,805,458	94.96
Invalid votes		998,975	5.04
Total votes		19,804,433	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		41,287,084	47.97
Source: Registraduría^[5]

Notes

^ Received support from the National Salvation Movement.
^ A coalition of Green Alliance, En Marcha [es], Colombian Democratic Party [es], Colombia Renaciente [es], and Independent Social Alliance
^ A coalition of Radical Change, LIGA, Colombia Justa Libres, and Broad Democratic Alliance
^ A coalition of MIRA, New Liberalism, and Dignity and Compromise
^ A coalition of La Fuerza, Partido Ecologista Colombiano [es], Democratic Hope, Partido del Trabajo de Colombia [es], and Movimiento Alternativo Indígena y Social [es]

References

^ Sonneland, Holly K. (28 June 2017). "Explainer: Colombia's 2018 Elections". AS/COA. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 2021-04-28.
^ Colombia. "¿Cómo funciona el proceso de inscripción de cédulas?". Colombia. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
^ Secretaria General del Senado. "Acto Legislativo número 02 de 2015". Secretariasenado.gov.co (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2021. El candidato que le siga en votos a quien la autoridad electoral declare elegido en el cargo de Presidente y Vicepresidente de la República, Gobernador de Departamento, Alcalde Distrital y Alcalde municipal tendrá el derecho personal a ocupar una curul en el Senado, Cámara de Representantes, Asamblea Departamental, Concejo Distrital y Concejo Municipal, respectivamente, durante el período de la correspondiente corporación.
^ "Resultados elecciones Colombia 2026". RTVC Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2026.
^ "Elecciones del Congreso de la República 2026". Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 March 2026.

External links

[MSN-4] Received support from the National Salvation Movement.

[ApC-5] A coalition of Green Alliance, En Marcha [es], Colombian Democratic Party [es], Colombia Renaciente [es], and Independent Social Alliance

[CR-ALMA-6] A coalition of Radical Change, LIGA, Colombia Justa Libres, and Broad Democratic Alliance

[AC-7] A coalition of MIRA, New Liberalism, and Dignity and Compromise

[FAU-8] A coalition of La Fuerza, Partido Ecologista Colombiano [es], Democratic Hope, Partido del Trabajo de Colombia [es], and Movimiento Alternativo Indígena y Social [es]

[1] Sonneland, Holly K. (28 June 2017). "Explainer: Colombia's 2018 Elections". AS/COA. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 2021-04-28.

[2] Colombia. "¿Cómo funciona el proceso de inscripción de cédulas?". Colombia. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.

[ActoLegislativo02/2015-3] Secretaria General del Senado. "Acto Legislativo número 02 de 2015". Secretariasenado.gov.co (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2021. El candidato que le siga en votos a quien la autoridad electoral declare elegido en el cargo de Presidente y Vicepresidente de la República, Gobernador de Departamento, Alcalde Distrital y Alcalde municipal tendrá el derecho personal a ocupar una curul en el Senado, Cámara de Representantes, Asamblea Departamental, Concejo Distrital y Concejo Municipal, respectivamente, durante el período de la correspondiente corporación.

[9] "Resultados elecciones Colombia 2026". RTVC Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 March 2026.

[10] "Elecciones del Congreso de la República 2026". Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 March 2026.

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v t e Elections in Colombia
Presidential elections	1811 1813 1821 1825 1833 1836–37 1840–41 1844–45 1848–49 1852–53 1856 1860 1863 1864 1865–66 1867–68 1869–70 1871–72 1873–74 1875–76 1878 1880 1882 1884 1886 1892 1898 1904 1914 1918 1922 1926 1930 1934 1938 1942 1946 1949 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026
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Referendums	1957 1990 (Mar) 1990 (May) 1990 (Dec) 1997 2003 2016 2018

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