Elections in Luxembourg

thumb|Sample ballot from the [[2023 Luxembourg general election|2023 general election]]

Elections in Luxembourg are held to determine the political composition of the representative institutions of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a liberal representative democracy, with universal suffrage guaranteed under its constitution. Elections are held regularly, and are considered to be fair and free.

Separate elections are held to elect representatives at municipal, national and European levels. The main institution to which members are elected is the Chamber of Deputies, the national legislature and the sole source of membership, confidence and supply of the government. Luxembourg is represented by six MEPs to the European Parliament, who are elected simultaneously with elections held in other European Union member states.

The country has a multi-party system, traditionally defined by the existence of three large political parties: the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), the Democratic Party (DP), and the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). Historically, the three parties have won a large majority of the votes between them, but their total percentage has fallen recently, such that two additional parties, The Greens and the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (ADR) have recorded over 8% of votes at each of last two legislative elections. The CSV and its predecessor (Party of the Right) has provided the Prime Minister for all but 12 years since 1918, and has always been the largest party in the legislature. In this respect, Luxembourg has certain features of a dominant-party system, although coalition governments are the norm and the previous two governments from 2013 to 2023 did not involve the CSV.

Latest election

Compulsory voting

Luxembourg's electoral system operates on the basis of compulsory voting, with a few exceptions. Luxembourg citizens aged under 75 years who reside in Luxembourg are required to vote, unless they reside in a different municipality from the one in which they are called to vote.

Luxembourg citizens aged over 75 years, as well as Luxembourg citizens of any age who do not reside in Luxembourg, are not required to vote. If they choose to register to vote, voting becomes mandatory for them. Non-Luxembourg citizens who are eligible to vote in municipal and/or European Parliament elections are not automatically required to vote; however, if they choose to register to vote, voting becomes mandatory for them. The failure of a person to vote when required to law to do so is punishable upon the first offence by a fine of between €100 and €250. A repeat offence within 5 years is punishable by a fine of between €500 and €1,000.

Chamber of Deputies

Luxembourg's national legislature is the unicameral Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourgish Chamber, French: Chambre des députés, German: Abgeordnetenkammer). The Chamber has 60 members, known as 'deputies', elected for a five-year term in four multi-seat constituencies, known as 'circonscriptions'. Seats are allocated by proportional representation, using the Hagenbach-Bischoff system. The most recent election took place in October 2023 and the next is scheduled for 2028.

Eligibility

thumb|The four legislative constituencies of Luxembourg.

To be eligible to vote in elections to the Chamber of Deputies, one must fulfil the following criteria:

Be a Luxembourgish citizen.
Be at least 18 years of age on election day.
Have never been convicted of a criminal offence.
Otherwise be in full possession of one's political rights (e.g. not be certified as insane).

In addition to the criteria outlined above, a person standing for election to the Chamber of Deputies must be resident in Luxembourg. Furthermore, judges and members of the Council of State cannot stand for election.

Constituencies

Deputies are elected from four constituencies ('circonscriptions'). They are arranged geographically, as combinations of the twelve traditional cantons. The four circonscriptions are Centre, Est, Nord and Sud.

Latest election

European Parliament

Since 1979, Luxembourg has elected members to the European Parliament,

In addition to the criteria outlined above, any person standing for election to the European Parliament to represent Luxembourg must be resident in Luxembourg. There is one extra requirement for non-Luxembourgish citizens: they must be in full possession of their political rights in both Luxembourg and their Member State of citizenship.

Electoral system

The seats are allocated according to the D'Hondt method.

Latest election

Past elections

1999 European election
2004 European election
2009 European election
2014 European election

Local elections

Each commune (municipality) has an elected communal council. The number of councillors varies from 7 to 19 based on the number of inhabitants; the exception being the City of Luxembourg whose communal council consists of 27 members.

The councillors are directly elected every six years on the second Sunday of October. The last elections were held on 11 June 2023. The law of 15 December 2017 further defines that if the parliamentary and communal elections coincide, the latter are held in June of that year.

Referendums

The referendum was introduced into the Constitution of Luxembourg by the constitutional amendment of 1919. The Constitution mentions the referendum in Article 51: