At stake in this election:

• The office of the President of Colombia

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderón
• Head of Government: President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderón
• Assembly: Colombia has a bicameral Congress (Congreso) consisting of the Senate (Senado) with 102 seats and the House of Representatives (Camara de Representantes) with 166 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term. Presidents are limited to two four-year terms.

Election Note:

• Since no candidate received a majority of the vote during the 25 May 2014 election, a run-off election is necessary between the top two candidates,  President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderón and Óscar Iván ZULUAGA. [1]  The run-off election will be held on 15 June 2014.

Main candidates in the run-off presidential election:

• Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderón
  • Alliance: National Unity / Unidad Nacional[2]
  • Vice-Presidential running mate: German VARGAS LLERAS[3]
• Óscar Iván ZULUAGA
  • Party: Democratic Center / Centro Democrático[4]
  • Vice-Presidential running mate: Carlos Holmes TRUJILLO

Last election:

• The first round of the presidential election was held on 25 May 2014. There were five presidential candidates and none reached the 50 percent threshold to win the election. Thus, the two vote leaders, Juan Manual SANTOS Calderón (with 25.69 percent of the vote) and Óscar Iván ZULUAGA (with 29.25 percent) will compete in a run-off election to be held on 15 June 2014. Results can be found here.
• Prior to the two rounds of elections in 2014, the last presidential election in Colombia was held on 30 May and 20 June 2010. In the first round, President Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderón received 46.68 percent of the vote, below the 50 percent threshold to win the election outright. He therefore faced Aurelijus Antanas MOCKUS Sivickas of the Green Party, the runner-up candidate with 21.51 percent of votes, in a runoff on 20 June. In the second round, SANTOS received 69.06 percent to MOCKUS’s 27.53 percent and was declared the winner. Full results can be found here and here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 47,791,393 (2014)
• Registered Voters: 32,835,856 (2014)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 24,255,888 (2014)

·         Is Colombia a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Colombia ratified CEDAW: Yes (19 January 1982)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 33 (House of Representatives); 23 (Senate) (following 2014 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 97 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Colombia a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Colombia ratified CRPD: Yes (10 May 2011)

·         Population with a disability: 7,168,708 (est.)

[1] http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27567604

[2] The National Unity Alliance is led by President SANTOS’s Social Party of National Unity / Partido Social de Unidad Nacional. The Alliance’s other two members, the Colombian Liberal Party / Partido Liberal Colombiano and Radical Change / Cambio Radical, also support SANTOS.

[3] VARGAS LLERAS is a member of Radical Change / Cambio Radical.

[4] New party, founded in January 2013 by former President Álvaro URIBE.