At stake in this election:

• 20 seats in the Senate (Senado)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Ricardo LAGOS Escobar *
• Head of Government: President Ricardo LAGOS Escobar
• Assembly: Chile has a bicameral National Congress (Congreso Nacional) consisting of the Senate (Senado) with 48 seats and the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados) with 120 seats.

* The president is both the chief of state and head of government.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 6-year term.
• In the Senate (Senado), 38 members are elected by popular vote to serve 8-year terms and 10 members are designated *. In the Chamber of Deputies (Camara de Diputados) 120 members are elected by popular vote to serve 4-year terms.

* One-half of the members in the Senate are elected every four years.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Alliance: Concertación and Juntos Podemos for More Democracy
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 19
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 57
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Alliance: Coalition for Change / Coalición por el Cambio
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 16
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 58
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Alliance: New Majority for Chile
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 0
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0
• Alliance: Clean Chile Vote Happy
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Senate election: 1
  • Seats won in last Senate election: 0
  • Seats won in this Chamber of Deputies election: 0
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 16,601,707 (July 2009 est.)
• Registered Voters: 8,285,186 (December 2009 )

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 8,529,652 (2009)

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

·         Has Chile ratified CEDAW: Yes (7 December 1989)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: No

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 17 (Chamber of Deputies); 3 (Senate) (following 2009 parliamentary election)

·         Human Development Index Position: 42 (2014)

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

Disability Data:

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

·         Has Chile ratified CRPD: Yes (29 July 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 2,490,256 (est.)