COLOMBIA: Local elections
Elections will take place on Sunday, October 30th, in order to elect governors, deputies for department assemblies, mayors, municipal council members and local administrative board members. The candidates elected on October 30, 2011 will hold office until January 1, 2012.
The political parties that compete in local elections can opt whether or not to offer preferential voting. This means that parties can either allow electors to vote for the candidate of their choice or present closed lists.
Single-member offices (mayor and governor) are elected through simply majority. In other words, no minimum percentage of votes is required to enter office. For multi-member offices, candidates must obtain at least 50% of the votes.
It is important to keep in mind that popular elections for governor have been held since 1992, following the modification of the National Constitution of 1991. Prior to this time, governors were appointed by the country’s president.
Sources for more information in Spanish:
Colombian National Electoral Council http://www.cne.gov.co/CNE/
National Registry of Civil Status http://www.registraduria.gov.co/Informacion/elec_2011_abc.htm
In suspense!
In Colombia we are going to have the first elections in the country’s history in which parties’ lists are obligated to have at least 30% candidates in both genders.
This measure was recently passed and it hasn’t been an easy process, but we are looking forward to seeing the results.
Here is some key background information:
Colombia has recently had some very important legislative developments to combat the gender gap: Law 1257 passed in 2008 in order to prevent and punish all forms of violence against women; Law 1413 passed in 2010 on Economy of Care (acknowledging and valuing women’s contribution to the country’s economy) and Law 1434 passed in 2011 to create the Legal Commission for Women’s Equality in Congress. There have also been debates in Congress on the incorporation of gender in the law on victims and lands and Law 1475 from this year was passed, which includes five measures to increase women’s inclusion and representation in politics, as well as a gender quota for public bodies.
This legal progress is fundamental since Colombia has ratified numerous international commitments and treaties to guarantee gender equality and the empowerment of women. In fact, in the most recent of these (regarding the MDGs) was ratified on March 28th in the National Council for Social and Political Economy (CONPES) which – in order to fulfill the third MDG – commits to “taking affirmative actions to increase the proportion of women candidates” to elected office.
However, efforts require greater emphasis and commitment. According to “The Global Gender Gap Report” published by the World Economic Forum each year, gender inequality in Colombia is increasingly higher (or other countries are progressing at a greater speed). Of a total 134 countries, the country has dropped from rank 24 in 2007 to 50 in 2008 and 55 in 2010. According to the report, the main gap has always been in the political empowerment of women. Furthermore, according to the IPU, Colombia’s parliament is currently ranked 89 among 134 parliaments in the world – a lower rank than Sierra Leone and the fifth worst in Latin America.
In the past 20 years, women’s participation in Congress has gone from 8% to 14%. For offices in municipal councils and department assemblies, women’s participation in 1962 was 5.2% and 7.8% (respectively) and today – nearly 40 years later – reaches only 14.5% and 17.2%. With time, inclusion has increased though at an excessively slow rate, to the point that 40 years later the figures haven’t even tripled. If the country continues at this rate, another 45 years would have to go by until the seats in department assemblies reach 36% women.
To date, though women make up 52% of the population they form only 14% of the councilors, 17% of the deputies, 9% of the mayors and 14% of congressional representatives.
One of the fundamental measures to combat inequality for Colombian women in terms of political empowerment was the Statute Law on Political Reform (Law 1475) passed by Congress in June 2011, which includes five measures to increase women’s inclusion and representation. The five measures are:
Gender quality as one of the principles among political parties’ organization and functioning: “In virtue of the principle of gender equality, both men and women shall enjoy real equality of rights and opportunities to participate in political activities, lead party organizations, partake in electoral debates and be elected to an office of political representation.” (Article 1)
Obligation to incorporate guarantees for gender equality among candidacies in its statutes.“Presentation, selection and registration of candidates to offices or bodies of popular election through democratic means, keeping in mind the duty to guarantee gender equality.” (Article 4, section 10)
70/30 quota to register candidates in districts with more than four seats. “For lists in which five or more candidates are chosen for bodies through popular vote or those that are subject to consultation – regardless of the final result – must be formed by a minimum of 30% of each gender.” (Article 28)
5% party funding incentive in accordance with the number of women elected to public bodies. “Five percent (5%) in proportion to the number of women elected to public bodies.” Article 17, section 5.
Obligation to dedicate funding resources to train women, among other political actors. “For the effective inclusion of women, youth and ethnic minorities in politics.” (Article 18, section 2)
Though the quota approved is not the best (as in the case of the Chamber of Representatives, which excludes 19 of the 33 districts – nearly 60%), it is still a very important advance that could have substantial impacts. For instance: on average in the most recent elections to public bodies, 18% of the candidates who ran were women. A simple rule of three would suggest that with 18% of the candidacies, women would reach 15.2% of the offices and that with 30% of the candidacies women would occupy 25% of the elected offices in public bodies. Though this has not yet reached 30% - the percentage that political theory denominates “critical mass with power to influence” – it is still marks substantial progress.
This is an issue that has been debated in Colombian Congress since 1997. As a result, the other quota law – Law 581 – was passed in 2000, which demands that women be appointed to at least 30% of the highest level offices in all realms of public power (law that requires a separate evaluation after being in force for 10 years). Even though this debate repeatedly took place in Congress, it was in 2006 that it began to take on greater force and was finally included as a principle in the constitutional reform of 2009 (two years ago). Later, the law that implements this constitutional mandate was passed in June of this year, after having been approved by Congress in December 2010. What this demonstrates is that political parties did not have enough political gumption to advance the issue or promote and guarantee women’s participation while it was not a legal requirement, confirming the importance of this legal precedent.
In legal terms, the particulars are: the Political Constitution of Colombia in its new article 107 (reformed by Legislative Act 1 of 2009) includes Gender Equality as one of its five principles of democratic organization among political parties and movements. In order to implement this principle, Congress passed Law 1475 in 2011, adopting a quota and four other measures. The law was approved by Congress in December 2010, but since it was statutory in nature it had to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. For this reason, it took a long time before it was passed and one of the issues that generated most debate was the quota. If you are interested in seeing the corresponding debate, you can view the ruling: (http://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2011/c-490-11.HTM). The law was passed on July 14th this year and will go into force for the national elections this October 30th.
To date there is no official, consolidated institutional information on list registration, but it’s worth mentioning that by the initial date for candidate registration – August 18th – a total of 217 lists from 26 departments (81% of the departments in the country) and 217 municipalities (12% - 110 for municipal councils and 107 for local administrative boards) were rejected for failing to comply with the minimum number of women required.
However, the electoral body authorized an extended deadline up to September 30th, when it seems that all lists were finally accepted.
According to the National Civil Status Registry, 35,874 women registered for Colombia’s October elections, which represents 35.21% of the total number of registered candidates which was 101,866 – the greatest number of candidates in the country’s history, increasing by 8% from the last elections and women candidates increasing by 16%.
This panorama shows that have a high expectations for the results of next Sunday. We hope to achieve the corresponding balance.
Lots of love!
Diana Espinosa
Campaign to promote women’s candidacies in Colombia
In order to promote women’s candidacies in Colombia, an alliance among various sectors and organizations led to this campaign: Democracy without women is incomplete.
Cambria;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The commercial can be found, in Spanish, at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y9eowCOfO9g
_
In suspense!
In Colombia we are going to have the first elections in the country’s history in which parties’ lists are obligated to have at least 30% candidates in both genders.
This measure was recently passed and it hasn’t been an easy process, but we are looking forward to seeing the results.
Here is some key background information:
Colombia has recently had some very important legislative developments to combat the gender gap: Law 1257 passed in 2008 in order to prevent and punish all forms of violence against women; Law 1413 passed in 2010 on Economy of Care (acknowledging and valuing women’s contribution to the country’s economy) and Law 1434 passed in 2011 to create the Legal Commission for Women’s Equality in Congress. There have also been debates in Congress on the incorporation of gender in the law on victims and lands and Law 1475 from this year was passed, which includes five measures to increase women’s inclusion and representation in politics, as well as a gender quota for public bodies.
This legal progress is fundamental since Colombia has ratified numerous international commitments and treaties to guarantee gender equality and the empowerment of women. In fact, in the most recent of these (regarding the MDGs) was ratified on March 28th in the National Council for Social and Political Economy (CONPES) which – in order to fulfill the third MDG – commits to “taking affirmative actions to increase the proportion of women candidates” to elected office.
However, efforts require greater emphasis and commitment. According to “The Global Gender Gap Report” published by the World Economic Forum each year, gender inequality in Colombia is increasingly higher (or other countries are progressing at a greater speed). Of a total 134 countries, the country has dropped from rank 24 in 2007 to 50 in 2008 and 55 in 2010. According to the report, the main gap has always been in the political empowerment of women. Furthermore, according to the IPU, Colombia’s parliament is currently ranked 89 among 134 parliaments in the world – a lower rank than Sierra Leone and the fifth worst in Latin America.
In the past 20 years, women’s participation in Congress has gone from 8% to 14%. For offices in municipal councils and department assemblies, women’s participation in 1962 was 5.2% and 7.8% (respectively) and today – nearly 40 years later – reaches only 14.5% and 17.2%. With time, inclusion has increased though at an excessively slow rate, to the point that 40 years later the figures haven’t even tripled. If the country continues at this rate, another 45 years would have to go by until the seats in department assemblies reach 36% women.
To date, though women make up 52% of the population they form only 14% of the councilors, 17% of the deputies, 9% of the mayors and 14% of congressional representatives.
One of the fundamental measures to combat inequality for Colombian women in terms of political empowerment was the Statute Law on Political Reform (Law 1475) passed by Congress in June 2011, which includes five measures to increase women’s inclusion and representation. The five measures are:
Gender quality as one of the principles among political parties’ organization and functioning: “In virtue of the principle of gender equality, both men and women shall enjoy real equality of rights and opportunities to participate in political activities, lead party organizations, partake in electoral debates and be elected to an office of political representation.” (Article 1)
Obligation to incorporate guarantees for gender equality among candidacies in its statutes.“Presentation, selection and registration of candidates to offices or bodies of popular election through democratic means, keeping in mind the duty to guarantee gender equality.” (Article 4, section 10)
70/30 quota to register candidates in districts with more than four seats. “For lists in which five or more candidates are chosen for bodies through popular vote or those that are subject to consultation – regardless of the final result – must be formed by a minimum of 30% of each gender.” (Article 28)
5% party funding incentive in accordance with the number of women elected to public bodies. “Five percent (5%) in proportion to the number of women elected to public bodies.” Article 17, section 5.
Obligation to dedicate funding resources to train women, among other political actors. “For the effective inclusion of women, youth and ethnic minorities in politics.” (Article 18, section 2)
Though the quota approved is not the best (as in the case of the Chamber of Representatives, which excludes 19 of the 33 districts – nearly 60%), it is still a very important advance that could have substantial impacts. For instance: on average in the most recent elections to public bodies, 18% of the candidates who ran were women. A simple rule of three would suggest that with 18% of the candidacies, women would reach 15.2% of the offices and that with 30% of the candidacies women would occupy 25% of the elected offices in public bodies. Though this has not yet reached 30% - the percentage that political theory denominates “critical mass with power to influence” – it is still marks substantial progress.
This is an issue that has been debated in Colombian Congress since 1997. As a result, the other quota law – Law 581 – was passed in 2000, which demands that women be appointed to at least 30% of the highest level offices in all realms of public power (law that requires a separate evaluation after being in force for 10 years). Even though this debate repeatedly took place in Congress, it was in 2006 that it began to take on greater force and was finally included as a principle in the constitutional reform of 2009 (two years ago). Later, the law that implements this constitutional mandate was passed in June of this year, after having been approved by Congress in December 2010. What this demonstrates is that political parties did not have enough political gumption to advance the issue or promote and guarantee women’s participation while it was not a legal requirement, confirming the importance of this legal precedent.
In legal terms, the particulars are: the Political Constitution of Colombia in its new article 107 (reformed by Legislative Act 1 of 2009) includes Gender Equality as one of its five principles of democratic organization among political parties and movements. In order to implement this principle, Congress passed Law 1475 in 2011, adopting a quota and four other measures. The law was approved by Congress in December 2010, but since it was statutory in nature it had to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. For this reason, it took a long time before it was passed and one of the issues that generated most debate was the quota. If you are interested in seeing the corresponding debate, you can view the ruling: (http://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2011/c-490-11.HTM). The law was passed on July 14th this year and will go into force for the national elections this October 30th.
To date there is no official, consolidated institutional information on list registration, but it’s worth mentioning that by the initial date for candidate registration – August 18th – a total of 217 lists from 26 departments (81% of the departments in the country) and 217 municipalities (12% - 110 for municipal councils and 107 for local administrative boards) were rejected for failing to comply with the minimum number of women required.
However, the electoral body authorized an extended deadline up to September 30th, when it seems that all lists were finally accepted.
According to the National Civil Status Registry, 35,874 women registered for Colombia’s October elections, which represents 35.21% of the total number of registered candidates which was 101,866 – the greatest number of candidates in the country’s history, increasing by 8% from the last elections and women candidates increasing by 16%.
This panorama shows that have a high expectations for the results of next Sunday. We hope to achieve the corresponding balance.
Lots of love!
Diana Espinosa
Campaign to promote women’s candidacies in Colombia
In order to promote women’s candidacies in Colombia, an alliance among various sectors and organizations led to this campaign: Democracy without women is incomplete.
Cambria;mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:
EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">The commercial can be found, in Spanish, at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y9eowCOfO9g
_