At Stake in this Election:       

On 4 September 2022, Chilean citizens will vote on a new constitution drafted by the Constitutional Convention.* There is a large focus on social issues, such as gender parity and rights for Indigenous peoples. The new constitution would also eliminate the Senate and replace it with a Chamber of Regions (Cámara de las Regiones) with 3 representatives from the 16 regions.¹ Voting is mandatory for all eligible citizens.  

The question on the ballet is as follows:  

“Do you approve the text of the New Constitution proposed by the Constitutional Convention?" 

The voter may indicate their preference by responding “APPROVE” or “REJECT” to the question.  

*The Convention was called by an 78% majority vote in an October 2020 referendum. This referendum followed mass protests in 2019 to replace the Pinochet-era constitution.² 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: President Gabriel BORIC 

• Head of Government: President Gabriel BORIC 

• Assembly: The National Congress of Chile (Congreso Nacional de Chile) is a bicameral legislature consisting of the 155-member Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputadas y Diputados), and the 50-member Senate (Senado). 

Electoral System: 

• The President is elected using a two-round system in which a candidate must win at least 50% of the vote to win. The President is elected to a four-year term.  

• The Chamber of Deputies consists of 155 directly elected seats using a party list proportional representation system and D’Hondt coefficient. Deputies run for office in one of 28 multi-member electoral districts ranging from three to eight seats each. Members are elected to four-year terms. 

• The Senate consists of 50 directly elected seats using a party list proportional representation system and D’Hondt coefficient. Senators run for office in one of sixteen multi-member electoral districts ranging from two to five seats each. Members are elected to eight-year terms, with approximately half of the body being chosen each election.  

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 19,250,192 (2022 est.)³ 

• Registered Voters: 15,173,929 (2022) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 9,247,974 (2022 est.)⁴ 

• Is Chile a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 Jul 1980)⁵ 

• Has Chile ratified CEDAW: Yes (07 Dec 1989)⁶ 

• Gender Quota: Yes, each party list may not consist of more than 60% of one gender⁷ 

• Number of Female Legislators: 55 out of 155 (35.5%) in the Chamber of Deputies; 12 out of 50 (24%)⁸  

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: Rank 43 at 0.851 (2020)⁹ 

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

Disability Data: 

• Is Chile a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 Mar 2007)¹⁰ 

• Has Chile ratified CRPD: Yes (29 Jul 2008)¹¹ 

• Population with a disability: 2,626,239 (2022 est.)¹² 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Chile: No  

• Election Judgements: Yes, 1 

  

1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/16/chile-constitution-new-draft-pinochet 

2. https://nacla.org/moment-truth-chiles-new-constitution

3. https://www.populationpyramid.net/es/chile/2022/

4. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/chile/#people-and-society

5. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en 

6. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en 

7. https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/gender-quotas/country-view/79/35

8. https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=6&year=2022

9. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/specific-country-data#/countries/CHL

10. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

11. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

12. http://electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/?q=chile#tab