1991 Colombian parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Colombia on 27 October 1991 to elect the Senate and Chamber of Representatives. ^[1] The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 87 of the 161 seats in the Chamber and 56 of the 102 seats in the Senate.

Background

Following a spate of political violence, an unofficial referendum on forming a Constitutional Assembly was held alongside the March 1990 parliamentary elections. An official referendum was later held in May, which saw 96% of voters vote in favour of convening an Assembly.

Elections for the Assembly were held in December 1990, and a new constitution was promulgated in July 1991.

The Constitutional Assembly passed the Acto Constituyente de Vigencia Immediata on 18 June 1991, which called for fresh Congressional elections in October, with the newly elected Congress replacing the one elected under the previous constitution in 1990. ^[2]

Campaign

A total of 486 lists were registered for the election, of which 237 were affiliated with the Liberal Party and 64 with the Conservative Party. ^[2]

Results

Senate

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,263,398	42.52	56	–10
	19th of April Movement	454,467	8.54	9	New
	New Democratic Force	436,562	8.20	8	New
	Colombian Conservative Party	346,749	6.51	9	–29
	National Salvation Movement	234,358	4.40	5	New
	Patriotic Union	79,753	1.50	1	New
	Christian Union Movement	67,885	1.28	1	New
	Conservative National Movement	58,012	1.09	1	0
	Progressive Force	49,902	0.94	1	New
	Laicists for Colombia	49,789	0.94	1	New
	Progressive National Movement	44,693	0.84	1	New
	Independent Conservatism	43,172	0.81	1	New
	Independent Liberal Restoration Movement	40,990	0.77	1	New
	Conservative Reintegration Movement	37,027	0.70	1	New
	Metapolitical Unitary Movement	31,080	0.58	1	+1
	Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	30,312	0.57	1	New
	National Indigenous Organization of Colombia	30,020	0.56	1	New
	Christian National Party	27,276	0.51	1	New
	United Movement for Colombia	27,267	0.51	1	New
	Independent Social Alliance Movement	26,493	0.50	1	New
	Others	482,497	9.06	0	–
Blank votes		461,184	8.66	–	–
Total		5,322,886	100.00	102	–12
Valid votes		5,322,886	97.02
Invalid votes		163,550	2.98
Total votes		5,486,436	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,037,526	36.48
Source: Nohlen

Chamber of Representatives

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Colombian Liberal Party	2,425,304	46.22	87	–32
	Colombian Conservative Party	792,153	15.10	27	–35
	19th of April Movement	483,382	9.21	13	New
	National Salvation Movement	327,845	6.25	11	New
	Conservative National Movement	107,951	2.06	4	+1
	Patriotic Union	94,393	1.80	3	+2
	Christian Union Movement	75,977	1.45	1	New
	Independent Liberal Restoration Movement	43,338	0.83	1	New
	United Movement for Colombia	41,011	0.78	1	New
	People's Front	40,969	0.78	1	New
	New Colombia Movement	28,354	0.54	1	New
	Metapolitical Unitary Movement	23,882	0.46	1	New
	Christian National Party	22,808	0.43	0	New
	Indigenous Authorities of Colombia	21,103	0.40	1	New
	Civic Movement for Caldas	16,177	0.31	0	New
	Independent Civic Movement	15,748	0.30	1	New
	North Valle del Cauca Unity	15,586	0.30	1	New
	Democratic Renovation Movement	14,320	0.27	1	New
	Galanista Democratic Union	13,936	0.27	0	New
	Quindianos por Colombia	10,679	0.20	0	New
	People's Integration Movement	10,199	0.19	0	New
	Quintín Lame	8,412	0.16	0	New
	Christian Democratic Party	7,908	0.15	0	New
	Regional Integration Movement	5,722	0.11	1	New
	Socialist Workers' Party	5,487	0.10	0	New
	Unique Movement of Conservative Renovation	29,519	0.56	1	New
	Conservador Humbertista			1	New
	Movimiento Humbertista			1	New
	Transformation			1	New
	Others			8	–
	Coalitions	21,742	0.41	1	–9
Blank votes		543,662	10.36	–	–
Total		5,247,567	100.00	169	–38
Valid votes		5,247,567	97.16
Invalid votes		153,130	2.84
Total votes		5,400,697	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,037,526	35.91
Source: Nohlen

References

1. Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II, p305 ISBN   978-0-19-928358-3
2. Nohlen, p328