Standing for legislative elections

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All Luxembourg nationals on the electoral rolls elect the 60 members of the Chamber of Deputies (Chambre des députés) by direct universal suffrage. The Chamber of Deputies is the national Parliament in the Luxembourgish unicameral system. Elections take place every 5 years.

In principle, legislative elections take place on the same day and the same month as the previous legislative elections. If that day is not a Sunday, the elections are moved to the Sunday preceding the day in question.

To stand for election, candidates must satisfy several eligibility criteria.

The country is divided into 4 electoral districts (constituencies):

  • the South (23 deputies), comprising the cantons of Esch-sur-Alzette and Capellen;
  • the East (7 deputies), comprising the cantons of Grevenmacher, Remich and Echternach;
  • the Centre (21 deputies), comprising the cantons of Luxembourg and Mersch;
  • the North (9 deputies), comprising the cantons of Diekirch, Redange, Wiltz, Clervaux and Vianden.

The election uses the list system. In each electoral district, the political parties or groups of candidates running for office must compile candidate lists, on which the number of candidates may not exceed the number of deputies to be elected in the district. Independent candidates are considered as forming their own list.

Who is concerned

Eligible persons

To be eligible to stand for the legislative elections, you must:

  • be of Luxembourgish nationality;
  • be at least 18 years of age on the day of the election;
  • possess full civil and political rights;
  • reside in Luxembourg.

The loss of any one of the eligibility criteria invalidates the mandate.

Ineligible persons

You are not eligible to stand for legislative election if:

  • you are stripped of your eligibility following a conviction;
  • you are stripped of your right to vote following a conviction;
  • you have been convicted of a criminal offence.

Persons whose professions render them ineligible

You may not be elected to the Chamber of Deputies if you:

  • are a civil servant, an employee or worker paid by either the State or by a public-sector establishment subject to government supervision, or by a commune or association of communes, or by a public-sector establishment under the supervision of a commune, or an agent paid by the Luxembourg National Railway Company (Société nationale des chemins de fer luxembourgeois);
  • are a member of the executive branch or of the Council of State, unless you agree to resign in the event that you are elected to the Parliament;
  • have a deputy relative or family member up to the 2nd degree, or related by marriage/partnership. In that case, lots will be drawn to announce the elected candidate if you are elected together.

If a deputy accepts an assignment, employment or mission that is incompatible with their mandate as deputy, they are automatically stripped of that mandate.

Deadlines

At least 65 days prior to the election, the chief polling officer of the principal polling station in the electoral district publishes a notice setting the days, times and location where the officer will receive candidate applications and witness appointments.

All candidate lists must be submitted at least 60 days before polling day for the district:

  • South: at the court clerk's office of the justice of the Magistrate's Court of Esch-sur-Alzette;
  • East: in the commune of Grevenmacher at the place designated by the president of the district court of Luxembourg;
  • Centre: at the court clerk's office of the district court of Luxembourg ;
  • North: at the court clerk's office of the district court of Diekirch;

When the deadline for submitting candidate applications passes, the chief polling officer of the principal polling station in the district finalises the candidate lists in the order in which the candidates submitted their applications.

How to proceed

Preparing a candidate application

If you are a candidate, you must draw up a nomination paper, which must meet certain requirements. In particular, the application must:

  • state your surname, first name(s), profession and address;
  • contain the acceptance of your candidacy in the district;
  • be dated and signed.

Drawing up a list of candidates and representatives

Deputies are elected by list, with seats being distributed among the different candidate lists in proportion to the number of votes that they receive: a candidate in a legislative election must therefore be part of a list composed of a group of candidates. A list cannot include more candidates than the number of deputies to elect in the district.

Each list of candidates is presented by:

  • 100 registered voters in the district; or
  • an incumbent or former deputy elected in the district; or
  • 3 communal councillors elected in one or more communes in the district.

Independent candidates are considered as forming their own list.

Each list must be filed by a representative:

  • if a list is presented jointly by 100 voters, the representative is designated by and from among the 100 representatives on the list;
  • if a list is presented by a deputy or three communal councillors, the representative is chosen from among the candidates on the list or the elected officials representing it.

Satisfying additional conditions

In addition to these formalities, you must follow the following rules:

  • no person may appear, either as candidate or as representative, on more than one list in the same district;
  • no person may be a candidate in more than one district;
  • each list must bear a name; in the event that different lists bear the same name, the representatives will establish the necessary distinctions, failing which the chief polling officer of the principal polling station in the district will denote the lists by a capital letter in the order in which they were filed;
  • notifications concerning and additions to the list may be submitted before the candidate application deadline:
    • a candidate registered on a list may only be removed if they notify the chief polling officer of the principal polling station in the district, by bailiff's deed, of their desire to withdraw;
    • any list may be supplemented with the names of candidates who are presented by all the signatories to the list.

The chief polling officer of the principal polling station records the candidate lists in the order in which they are presented and issues a receipt to each representative in the representative's name.

Designation of witnesses and alternate witnesses

On submitting their candidate lists, each representative may nominate no more than one witness and one alternate witness from among the voters of each polling station to observe the voting process.

Who to contact

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Related procedures and links

Procedures

Registering to vote in legislative elections

Links

Further information

Élections.public.lu

Official elections website of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Legal references

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