This Sunday, March 8, Colombians will return to the polls to elect a new Congress, marking the official start of the country’s 2026 electoral cycle.
More than 40 million citizens are eligible to vote, both inside the country and abroad. Their decisions will shape the composition of the legislature for the 2026–2030 term and begin to define the political field ahead of the presidential race scheduled for May 31.
But this vote is not taking place under ordinary circumstances. Colombians will cast their ballots amid ongoing security concerns, political tensions, and a series of structural challenges that continue to test the resilience of one of Latin America’s most enduring yet deeply strained democracies.
What Colombians Will Vote For on March 8, 2026
On Sunday, March 8, Colombians will elect a new Congress while also participating in presidential primaries organized by three political coalitions.
Unlike presidential elections, where the winner is determined by a simple majority, congressional elections in Colombia follow a more complex system that includes electoral thresholds and formulas for allocating seats. Receiving a large number of votes does not automatically guarantee a seat in Congress.
For these elections, political parties registered ten open lists and six closed lists. There are 3,231 candidates in total seeking seats in Congress.
In open lists, voters select individual candidates within a party list. The candidates who receive the most personal votes obtain the seats won by that party.
In closed lists, the party establishes the order of candidates in advance. Voters support the party list as a whole, and seats are assigned according to that predetermined order.
This distinction plays a major role in determining who ultimately reaches Congress.
How the Next Congress Will Be Chosen
Senate
During this election, Colombians will elect 102 senators through popular vote.
- One hundred senators are chosen through a national constituency, meaning party lists compete across the entire country.
- Two additional seats are reserved for Indigenous communities.
- Colombia’s Constitution also guarantees a Senate seat for the presidential candidate who finishes second in the presidential election.
As a result, the Senate will ultimately be composed of 103 members for the 2026–2030 term.
House of Representatives
Voters will also elect 183 members of the House of Representatives.
These seats are distributed across several constituencies.
- 161 representatives are elected through territorial districts across Colombia’s departments and the capital city of Bogotá.
- Sixteen seats correspond to the Special Transitional Peace Districts, created to represent communities most affected by the armed conflict.
- Additional special seats include two for Afro-Colombian communities, one for Indigenous communities, one for the Raizal community of San Andrés, and one for Colombians living abroad.
- Another seat will be granted to the vice presidential candidate who finishes second in the presidential election.
Together, these representatives will shape Colombia’s legislative branch for the next four years.
Presidential Primaries
Alongside the congressional elections, three political coalitions will hold presidential primaries.
These primaries allow voters to help select the candidate who will represent each coalition in the presidential election scheduled for May 31.
Voting in a primary is voluntary. Participating in one does not obligate voters to support that candidate later in the presidential race.
The winners of these primaries will move forward to compete in the first round of the presidential election alongside several candidates who are running independently. Among the most visible candidates currently shaping the national debate are Iván Cepeda and Abelardo de la Espriella.
A Turning Point for the Peace Agreement
This congressional election carries particular historical significance because it marks a new phase in the implementation of Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement.
In 2016 Colombia signed a historic peace accord with the FARC guerrilla group, formally ending more than five decades of armed conflict that caused approximately 450,000 deaths and millions of victims of displacement, forced disappearance, and systematic violence.
As part of the agreement, a transitional political participation mechanism guaranteed ten seats in Congress to the political party created by former FARC members, today known as the Comunes party. These seats were guaranteed for two legislative periods.
The 2026 elections mark the first time those guaranteed seats will no longer be automatically assigned. Members of the Comunes party must now compete for representation through the popular vote like all other political parties. For many former combatants, this transition has been extremely difficult. The political participation of former peace signatories has been severely affected by targeted killings of regional leaders and persistent insecurity in several parts of the country.
A second key element of the peace agreement also reaches a turning point in this election.
The agreement created another temporary mechanism known as the Special Transitional Peace Districts, or CITREP. These sixteen seats in the House of Representatives were designed to guarantee political representation for communities most affected by the armed conflict.
Candidates for these seats cannot be backed by traditional political parties. Instead, they must be endorsed by social organizations representing victims and local communities. Their mandate is temporary. The upcoming legislative term will be the second and final period for these seats. After 2030, these communities will no longer have guaranteed representation in Congress.
For many observers, this vote represents a final opportunity to assess whether these mechanisms of political inclusion have fulfilled their intended purpose.
The significance of the CITREP becomes clearer when looking at what is happening in regions such as Montes de María.
A powerful example can be found in the article “The Last Heartbeat of Peace in Colombia’s Montes de María.” In the piece we accompany Aura Camargo and Geovaldis González, victims of the conflict and Afro-campesino leaders running for these peace seats.
What is happening in Montes de María shows how democracy in Colombia is being defended from the community level despite violence, neglect, and unequal political conditions. It also offers an important cross-border lesson. Across many regions of the world, democratic resilience depends on grassroots organizing, solidarity networks, and local leadership.
The article is highly recommended reading for those seeking to better understand the stakes of Colombia’s current political moment.
Voting Amid Security Risks and Political Tension
Colombians will cast their ballots amid several overlapping challenges.
The national human rights ombudsman’s office has warned that electoral risks persist in areas where illegal armed groups maintain territorial control. In some regions these groups have established forms of illegal governance, regulating political campaigns and even vetoing certain candidates.
Political tensions have also intensified. President Gustavo Petro recently revived debate about electoral transparency by warning about potential risks of fraud in the upcoming elections. His concerns focus on the functioning of the electoral pre-counting system and the traceability of votes from polling stations to the final count.
These concerns echo controversies from the 2022 elections. At that time, after irregularities were detected in the preliminary vote count, the governing coalition organized a nationwide effort to review vote tallies. In the days that followed, approximately 389,000 additional votes were recovered, allowing the coalition to gain three additional seats in Congress.
The renewed debate has added another layer of uncertainty to an already polarized political climate.
A Test for Colombia’s Democracy
Despite these pressures, Colombians will once again go to the polls.
The March 8 vote will launch a decisive electoral cycle that will determine the country’s political direction for the coming years. It will also test the resilience of democratic participation in a nation where armed violence, social inequality, and political polarization remain part of the political landscape.
The elections are also unfolding in a complex international context. In early February, President Gustavo Petro visited Donald Trump at the White House. While the meeting was cordial and resulted in agreements, and relations between the two countries appear stable, Colombia’s electoral process will also be shaped by broader geopolitical dynamics.
Across Latin America, concerns about external influence in democratic processes have intensified. Countries such as Venezuela, Panama, Honduras, and Argentina have experienced varying forms of U.S. political influence and interference under the framework of the Donroe Doctrine, which reflects the continuing impact of U.S. strategic interests in the region. In this context, Colombia’s elections will also serve as a test of how the country navigates its democratic process amid regional pressures and longstanding geopolitical dynamics.
This Sunday, and in the months ahead, Colombians will decide not only who governs, but also how the country continues to navigate peace implementation, democratic representation, and its place within a changing regional landscape.
Colombians will vote in the middle of uncertainty.
And in doing so, they will once again demonstrate a defining feature of Colombia’s political life: despite conflict, inequality, and persistent pressures on its institutions, the country continues to resolve its political struggles at the ballot box.
For observers beyond Colombia, this election will offer an important measure of how one of Latin America’s most enduring democracies confronts a moment of transition.