United States of America: House of Representatives, 8 November 2016

At stake in this election:

• 435 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009)
• Head of Government: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009)
• Assembly: The United States has a bicameral Congress consisting of the Senate with 100 seats and the House of Representatives with 435 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• Members of the House of Representatives are directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote, with members serving 2-year terms.

Note: The state of Georgia is the only exception, which requires an absolute majority vote for election.

Last Election:

• Elections for the House of Representatives were last held on 4 November 2014. The Republican Party won 247 seats and the Democratic Party won 188.

Main parties in the election:

• Democratic Party
  • Leader: Harry REID (Senate); Nancy Pelosi (House)
  • Seats won in last election: 188
• Republican Party
  • Leader: Mitch MCCONNELL (Senate); Paul Ryan (House)
  • Seats won in last election: 247

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 323,995,528 (July 2016 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 190,669,639 (2014)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 164,304,770 (July 2016 est.)

·         Is the United States a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has the United States ratified CEDAW: No

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 84 (House of Representatives); 4 (Senate)

·         Human Development Index Position: 8

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is the United States a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 July 2009)

·         Has the United States ratified CRPD: No

·         Population with a disability: 48,599,329 (est.)