Colombia Elections 2022: This is the electoral card and this is how you should mark

What is at stake in the elections of March 13 in Colombia?

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(CNN Spanish) --

On March 13, an electoral year begins in Colombia with legislative elections and a series of internal consultations that will choose the candidates for this year's presidential elections.

On Sunday, March 13, almost 39 million voters throughout the country are called to vote to elect a new Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Due to the fact that, depending on the jurisdiction, the electoral cards may vary, we explain what the electoral cards are like and how to mark to cast your vote on March 13.

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Before you start: watch out for preferred and non-preferred lists

This concept of open or closed lists is relatively new in Colombian electoral politics.

It was created with the political reform of 2003 and allows parties to have open or closed lists for public office elections.

"In the first case, the parties have the monopoly to decide who is part of the list and what is the order of the candidates within it. In open lists, the party maintains the monopoly to determine who can enter the list , but the voters have the option of exercising the preferential vote", says the Visible Congress initiative of the Universidad de Los Andes in Bogotá.

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In the preferred lists or open lists, the party is free to choose who belongs to the list, but does not choose the hierarchical order of how they are organized.

In this sense, voters can vote specifically for a candidate of their choice, who has an assigned number.

or closed lists

, the party has "the monopoly to decide who is part of the list and what is the order of the candidates within it."

Thus, the votes are not marked by candidates, but rather by the party, and then according to the distribution figure (a mechanism to assign seats proportionally to the votes obtained by the parties) a certain number of candidates arrive to occupy positions in The congress.

Senate vote

Here there are two types of electoral card and you should only ask for one, depending on your constituency.

• The ordinary national circumscription, which is blue.

• The special indigenous circumscription, which is pink.

These two cards are exclusive: that is, you will not be able to vote in the ordinary national constituency if you choose to vote for the indigenous list.

The latter will elect two indigenous senators for the 2022-2026 period.

Now, how to vote?

Electoral card for the Senate by national constituency.

The parties that do not have numbers in front are closed list or non-preferred.

(Credit: Colombian Registry)

You must identify the party or community of your choice.

You can choose open or closed lists.

The political parties or movements that have lists that are

to the Senate, that is, you only have to choose the logo or symbol and not a special candidate, are:

• Commons Party

• National Movement Corporation Organized Health Sector SOS Colombia

• New Liberalism Party

• We are Ready Colombia

• Unitary Metapolitical Movement

• New People Movement

• National Salvation Movement

• Historical Pact

For this you should only mark the logo or symbol of your choice.

The political parties or movements that have

—that is, the logo must be marked and

are:

• Green Alliance Coalition and Esperanza Center

• Citizen Force The Force of Change

• Radical Change Party

• Mira Coalition – Just Free Colombia

• Colombian Liberal Party

• Democratic Center Party

• Colombian Conservative Party

• Party of the U

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House of Representatives

Representatives to the House of Representatives are elected by regional or special constituency.

In this case there are:

• ordinary regional constituency

• Afro-descendant constituency

• Special indigenous circumscription.

You can only vote for one of the three constituencies.

You must ask the voting jury for the card of your choice.

There you can also select either the list of your preference, the candidate or vote blank.

The closed lists for the House of Representatives are:

• Historical Pact

• National Salvation Movement

• Commons Party

The political parties or groups for which you must mark both the logo and a candidate number are:

• Hope Center Coalition

• Green Alliance Party

• Colombian Liberal Party

How do you mark a valid vote?

If you vote for a closed list, you must select and mark with an

the logo of the party of your choice.

The votes are valid if "whose marks clearly define the intention to vote for a political party or movement, and in the lists with preferential voting, for a candidate," says the Registrar's Office.

For open lists the vote will be valid, if:

• Trademarks only party logo

• Mark two candidates from the same list.

  In this case, the vote is added to the party, although it does not add to any candidate.

• When the voter makes a mark within the Party's marking zone.

• When you mark both the logo symbol of the match and also in the marking area of ​​that same match.

The vote will be valid for an open list candidate if:

• The logo and number of the candidate within the same party are marked.

• Only your number is marked and not the logo.

The Blank Vote can be marked both in the "Blank Vote" box and in the adjoining area.

How do votes become invalid?

The votes will be null if and only if, according to the Registry:

• When the marks do not clearly define the voter's intention to vote.

  It may be that the mark overlaps in two boxes of two parties.

• When voting for the logo of a party and the candidate of another party for the same election.

• When voting for two political parties or movements at the same time.

Citrep

This year, for the first time in the history of Colombia, the 167 municipalities that make up the 16 Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Peace (Citrep) will be able to elect their representatives for the Citrep, and simultaneously vote for candidates for the territorial Chamber, for the special indigenous Chamber, as well as the Afro constituency, according to the registry.

The Citrep candidates come from organizations of victims of violence, peasant, social, women's social organizations, significant groups of.

Citizens, community councils, reservations and indigenous authorities and the Kumpany, 21 victim families who belong to the Roma people who live in the Kumpany and live in Antioquia, Atlántico, Córdoba, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Santander, Sucre, Tolima and in Bogotá .

The challenge of the municipalities in Colombia where peace seats are elected 3:00

Interparty consultations of March 13

The March 13 elections have an additional component in the country's democratic game: not only will Congress be elected, which according to its final composition will be key in the new government that begins on August 7, 2022, but also the presidential candidates that May elections will be held.

Unlike past elections, where the parties registered their candidates, in Colombia it is increasingly common to form alliances by political spectrum to elect presidential candidates.

In this way, in March the candidates for the presidency will be known and the final stretch begins to meet the new president of Colombia.

To participate in these consultations you must ask the voting jury for the card of the coalition of your interest.

You will NOT be able to participate in all three, only one.

This is how the three cards of the presidential consultations are for March 13, 2022. (Credit: Registry Office of Colombia)

The queries are:

Historical Pact

It is the coalition where various parties and movements of the left come together.

The candidates are:

Gustavo Petro — Colombia Humana — UP

Francia Márquez — I am because we are

Camilo Romero — Greens for Change

Areilis Urania — Political Movement Mais

Alfredo Saade — ADA

Hope Center Consultation

It is the consultation of the candidates of the center.

Their candidates are:

Juan Manuel Galán — New Liberalism

Sergio Fajardo — Independent Social Alliance

Jorge Enrique Robledo — Dignity

Carlos Amaya — We are Green Hope

Alejandro Gaviria — Colombia has a future

Team for Colombia

It is the consultation of the right-wing candidates.

Their candidates are:

Aydeé Lizarazo — LOOK

Alejandro Char — Country of Opportunities

David Barguil — Enrique Peñalosa Conservative Party —

Federico Gutiérrez

U Party — We Believe Colombia

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