The electoral system In Luxembourg, citizens exercise their democratic power through elections and by means of referendums.
Luxembourg is a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional monarchy. As in other countries of the European Union, voting in Luxembourg is compulsory for registered electors and thus the rate of participation in elections is among the highest in the European Union.
Parliamentary elections
The people of Luxembourg elect the 60 members of Parliament (Chamber of Deputies) by universal suffrage, in accordance with the rules on proportional representation.
For parliamentary elections, the country is divided into four electoral constituencies and the number of members (deputies) to be elected varies from one constituency to another:
- South: 23 members of Parliament
- Centre: 21 members of Parliament
- North: 9 members of Parliament
- East: 7 members of Parliament
Parliamentary elections are held every five years. The last parliamentary elections in the Grand Duchy were held on 14 October 2018. The next parliamentary elections are going to take place in 2023.
European elections
Every five years, Luxembourgers elect, by direct universal suffrage, six representatives of Luxembourg to the European Parliament. For European elections, there is only a single electoral constituency. The last European elections took place on 26 May 2019.
Municipal elections
At municipal elections, municipal councillors are elected directly by the inhabitants of the municipality for a six-year term of office.
In Luxembourg, a distinction is drawn between two different modes of election:
- the relative majority system, for municipalities whose population falls short of 3,000 inhabitants;
- list-based voting with proportional representation for all the other municipalities.
Each Luxembourg municipality has a municipal council and a council of mayor and aldermen. The last elections took place on 8 October 2017.
National referendum
An instrument of direct democracy, the referendum is an electoral consultation by which all voters are called on to vote for or against a proposal put to them. For referendum purposes, the country forms a single electoral constituency. Voting at the referendum is compulsory for all voters registered on the electoral roll for parliamentary elections.
The last national referendum was held on 7 June 2015.
Nationals of other Member States of the European Union
Nationals of other Member States of the European Union residing in the Grand Duchy may be allowed to participate not only in the European elections, but also in municipal elections. In addition, municipal elections are open, subject to certain conditions, to non-EU foreign nationals.
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