Luxembourg
Parliamentary Elections
Electoral system
- Unicameral parliament
- Name: Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des Députés)
- Members: 60
- Term: 5 years
- Constituencies: 4 multi-member constituencies (23 seats for the South, 21 for the Center, 9 for the North and 7 for the East).
- Voting system: Proportional: Party-list proportional representation system, with seats allotted according to the Hagenbach-Bishoff method. Under this system, political groups submit lists of candidates, whose number may not exceed the number of seats to be filled in the district. Electors may cast a preferential vote or split their vote between different lists. Accordingly, they can either vote for a list (in which case the latter is deemed to have received a number of votes equal to the number the elector was entitled to cast) or for a particular name on any list (in which case their votes may not exceed the number of Deputies to be elected in the district concerned). Each party-list obtains as many seats as its total number of (individual candidates and list) votes encompasses the applicable quotient. Remaining seats are allotted to parties with the highest average after the second count.
- Voter requirements: 18 years of age; Enjoyment of full civil and political rights; Residency in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
- Voting is compulsory for citizens residing in the country until the age of 75. Only citizens over 75 years old and those residing abroad are allowed to vote by post. Failure to vote is punishable by a fine of between 100 and 250 euros. In case of repeated abstention over a period of five years, the fine can increase to between 500 and 1,000 euros and citizens risk having their names removed from the voters' roll.
Latest elections
Election results 2009
General elections were held in Luxembourg on 7 June 2009, together with the election to the European Parliament. Seven political parties participated in the elections: the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), the Democratic Party (DP), the Greens, the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR), The Left (Lénk) and the Communist Party (KPL). In addition, the Citizens' List (Biergerlescht), which was headed by the independent deputy Aly Jaerling, ran in two of the four constituencies.
CSV won a total of 26 seats, while LSAP came second, winning 13 seats. DP, The Greens and ADR won 9, 7 and 4 seats respectively, while the Left party won 1 seat. The CSV and LSAP formed a coalition agreement, with Jean-Claude Juncker (CSV) as Prime Minister, forming the new government on 23 July.
Sources:
Inter-Parliamentary Union, PARLINE database on national parliaments
Government (Luxembourg), in Europa World online . London, Routledge. University of Bergen. Retrieved 04 September 2006 from http://www.europaworld.com/entry/lu.is.15
