Uruguay elects on national level a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

- the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

- and a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

. Uruguay has a stable multi-party system. The two "traditional parties" ( Colorado Party and National Party) were founded in 1836, and were predominant for over a century. The Broad Front coalition was created in 1971, including members such as the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

(founded in 1910) and the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engel ...

(founded in 1920).

Presidential elections

The president and the vice-president are elected on one ballot for a five-year term by the people. Each party must elect its candidates for President and Vice-President in primary elections, which are usually held in June. The selected candidates face the electorate in the general elections in October. If no candidate obtains the

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

of votes, there is a runoff between the two most-voted candidates.

Parliamentary elections

The

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...

(''Asamblea General'') has two chambers. The

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

(''Cámara de Diputados'') has 99 members, elected for a five-year term by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

with representation from the 19 departments. The Chamber of Senators (''Cámara de Senadores'') has 30 members elected for a five-year term by

at the national level, plus the Vice-president. After the 2019 elections, seven parties are represented in the Chamber of Deputies and four in the Chamber of Senators.

Schedule

Election

Inauguration

Latest elections

2019 general election

On 25 November, preliminary results in the

runoff election The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resu ...

showed Lacalle Pou with a majority (48.71%) by 28,666 votes over Martínez (47.51%), which delayed the announcement of a winner as 35,229

absentee vote An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online v ...

needed to be counted. Martínez later conceded defeat on 28 November. On 30 November, final votes counts confirmed Lacalle Pou as the winner with 48.8% of the total votes cast over Martínez with 47.3%. Map of 2019 Uruguayan legislative election

Map of 2019 Uruguayan legislative election

Past elections and referendums

Local elections

* 2000 Uruguayan municipal elections * 2005 Uruguayan municipal elections * 2010 Uruguayan municipal elections * 2015 Uruguayan municipal elections

Next elections

2022 Uruguayan Law of Urgent Consideration referendum A referendum on the Urgent Consideration Law was held in Uruguay to ask the electorate if 135 articles of Law 19,889 (known as the "Urgent Consideration Law", "Urgency Law" or simply "LUC") – approved by the General Assembly in 2020 and consid ...

* 2024 Uruguayan general election * 2025 Uruguayan municipal elections

References

External links

Adam Carr's Election ArchivePolitical Data Bank at the Social Sciences School - Universidad de la República (Uruguay)
{{Uruguay-election-stub