Election type

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 171. The Senate of the Republic shall be composed of one hundred members elected in a single nationwide constituency. There shall be an additional two senators elected in a special national constituency for indigenous communities. Colombian citizens who happen to be abroad or reside abroad may vote in elections for the Senate of the Republic. The electoral quotient system shall apply to the special constituency for the election of senators by indigenous communities. Representatives of indigenous communities who aspire to become members of the Senate of the Republic must have exercised a position of traditional authority in their respective communities or have been leaders of an indigenous organization. This qualification shall be verified by a certificate from the respective organization and endorsed by the Minister of Government.

Article 176. The House of Representatives shall be elected in territorial and special constituencies. 

Each department and the Capital District of Bogotá will form part of a territorial constituency. There will be two representatives for each territorial constituency and an additional one for each 365,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 182,500 over the first 365,000. The territorial constituency formed by the department of San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina will elect an additional (1) representative for the Raizal community of the said department, in accordance with the law. 

For the election of representatives to the House, each department and the Capital District of Bogotá shall constitute a territorial constituency. 

The special constituencies will guarantee the participation of ethnic groups and Colombians that reside abroad in the House of Representatives. Through these constituencies, four (4) representatives will be elected, according to the following distribution: two (2) for the constituency of Afro-descendant communities, one (1) for the constituency of indigenous communities, and one (1) for the international constituency. In this last constituency, only those votes deposited outside the national territory by citizens who reside abroad will be counted.

Beginning in 2014, the assignment of additional seats shall be based on the corresponding proportional increase of the national population, in accordance with the results of the census. It shall be the task of the electoral authority to adjust the number for the assignment of seats. 

If as a result of the application of the formula contained in the present article a territorial constituency should lose one or more seats, it shall keep the number of seats to which it was entitled until July 20, 2002. 

The Congress of the Republic shall issue regulations for the international constituency by December 16, 2013; if Congress fails to to issue these regulations, the National Government shall do so within thirty (30) days of that date. The regulations shall cover, among other things, the following matters: registration of candidates, registration of citizens entitled to vote from abroad, mechanisms to promote participation in the vote, polling places in consulates, and State funding for visits abroad by elected representatives.

Voting from Abroad: The International IDEA Handbook

“Although this was not expressly contemplated in the electoral legislation, in November 1990 Colombian residents abroad were called on to participate in the election of members of a Constituent National Assembly, which prepared a new text of the constitution. Article 171 of the new constitution (1991) established that not only Colombian permanent residents abroad, but also those who were temporarily out of the country could vote. It also allowed residents abroad to vote in elections to the Senate, which took place for the first time in 1994.

Article 176 of the constitution also created a special electoral district in the Chamber of Representatives in order to ensure the participation of ethnic groups, political minorities and Colombians resident abroad. However, this did not come into effect until 2001, when Law no. 649 established that the special electoral district would have a total of five seats, one of which would be for a representative of Colombians residing abroad, two for black communities, one for indigenous communities and one for political minorities. This provision was first applied in 2002.”

Colombia, Código Electoral (last updated on 03/26/2022), accessed 28 March 2022

ARTÍCULO 116. Los ciudadanos también podrán sufragar en el exterior para Presidente de la República, en las Embajadas, Consulados y demás locales que para el efecto habilite el Gobierno, previa inscripción de la cédula de ciudadanía o pasaporte vigente, hecha ante la respectiva Embajada o Consulado, a más tardar quince (15) días antes de las elecciones. De las listas de inscritos se sacarán tres (3) ejemplares: uno para el archivo de la Embajada o Consulado, otro para la mesa de votación y otro que se fijará en lugar público inmediato a dicha mesa.

El funcionario diplomático o consular de mayor categoría designará como jurados de votación a ciudadanos colombianos residentes en el lugar, a razón de dos (2) principales y dos (2) suplentes, pertenecientes a partidos políticos que tengan representación en el Congreso de Colombia y en forma tal que no existan jurados homogéneos políticamente.

Una vez cerrada la votación, hechos los escrutinios de cada mesa y firmadas las actas, los jurados harán entrega de éstas y demás documentos que sirvieron para las votaciones al funcionario correspondiente que inmediatamente los enviar , en sobre debidamente cerrado y sellado, al Consejo Nacional Electoral, para que sean tenidos en cuenta en el escrutinio general.

For voting from abroad in 2018 Parliamentary Elections explore this page. https://wsr.registraduria.gov.co/Este-lunes-5-de-marzo-inician.html