Electoral system for the president

Constitutional Court of the Republic of Colombia (Corte Constitucional República de Colombia), Political Constitution of Colombia (Constitución Política de Colombia), accessed 13 April 2026

Article 190, The President of the Republic shall be elected for a four-year term by one-half plus one of the votes, which citizens shall cast in a secret, direct ballot on the date and following the procedures stipulated by law. If no candidate should secure the said majority, a runoff election shall be held three weeks later, in which only the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round of balloting shall participate. The candidate with the larger number of votes shall be declared president. 

In the case of the death or permanent physical incapacity of either of the two candidates receiving the majority of votes, his/her party or political movement may enter a new candidate for the runoff election. If the party or movement fails to do so or if the vacancy stems from another reason, that candidate shall be replaced by whoever won third place in the first round and so on in successive and descending order. 

Should the vacancy occur less than two weeks before the second round of balloting, the runoff election shall be postponed fifteen days.