Chamber of Deputies of Mexico
|
|
The Chamber of Deputies (Spanish: Cámara de Diputados) is the lower house of Mexico's bicameral legislature, the Congress of the Union. The structure and responsibilities of both chambers of Congress are defined in Articles 50 to 70 of the 1917 Constitution of Mexico.
| Contents |
Composition
The Chamber of Deputies comprises 500 members.
Of these, 300 are elected from single-member districts on a first-past-the-post (FPP) basis. The remaining 200 are elected by means of proportional representation on a party-list basis from five multi-state constituencies (circunscripciones). The 200 PR deputies are intended to counterbalance the bias introduced into the system by the winner-take-all single-member districts.
Congressional elections take place every three years. An election is held simultaneously with the presidential election, and then mid-term elections are held halfway into the president's six-year mandate. The entire Chamber is replaced on both of those occasions, and deputies are disqualified from serving in two consecutive legislatures.
Election of July 2003 (59th Legislature)
| Party | FPP | PR | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAN | 80 | 71 | 151 |
| PRI | 160 | 62 | 224 |
| PRD | 40 | 55 | 97 |
| PT | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| PVEM | 0 | 17 | 17 |
| CD | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 180 | 216 | 500 |
Congressional elections were last held on 6 July 2003.
See also
External links
- Chamber of Deputies (http://www.diputados.gob.mx/) (in Spanish)
- Federal Electoral Institute (http://www.ife.org.mx) (in Spanish)