Belize
bicameral National Assembly consists of the Senate (12 seats;
members appointed by the governor general - 6 on the advice of the
prime minister, 3 on the advice of the leader of the opposition, and
1 each on the advice of the Belize Council of Churches and
Evangelical Association of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce
and Industry and the Belize Better Business Bureau, and the National
Trade Union Congress and the Civil Society Steering Committee; to
serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives (31 seats;
members are elected by direct popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 6 February 2008
(next to be held in 2013)
election results: percent of vote by party - UDP 56.3%, PUP 40.9%;
seats by party - UDP 25, PUP 6
Benin
unicameral National Assembly or Assemblee Nationale (83 seats;
members are elected by direct popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 31 March 2007 (next to be held by March 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party -
FCBE 35, ADD 20, PRD 10, other and independents 18
Bermuda
bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (11 seats;
members appointed by the governor, the premier, and the opposition)
and the House of Assembly (36 seats; members are elected by popular
vote to serve up to five-year terms)
elections: last general election held 18 December 2007 (next to be
held not later than 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party - PLP 52.5%, UBP 47.3%;
seats by party - PLP 22, UBP 14
Bhutan
bicameral Parliament consists of the non-partisan National
Council (25 seats; 20 members elected by each of the 20 electoral
districts (dzongkhags) for four-year terms and 5 members nominated
by the King); and the National Assembly (47 seats; members elected
by direct, popular vote for five-year terms)
elections: National Council elections last held on 31 December 2007
and 29 January 2008 (next to be held by December 2012); National
Assembly elections last held on 24 March 2008 (next to be held by
March 2013)
election results: National Council - NA; National Assembly - percent
of vote by party - DPT 67%, PDP 33%; seats by party - DPT 45, PDP 2
Bolivia
bicameral National Congress or Congreso Nacional consists of
Chamber of Senators or Camara de Senadores (27 seats; members are
elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve
five-year terms) and Chamber of Deputies or Camara de Diputados (130
seats; 70 members are directly elected from their districts and 60
are elected by proportional representation from party lists to serve
five-year terms); note - under representational rules established by
the 2009 Constitution, the National Congress will become the
Plurinational Legislative Assembly or Asamblea Legislativa
Plurinacional; the number of Deputies will remain at 130, but the
number of Senators will rise to 36
elections: Chamber of Senators and Chamber of Deputies - last held
18 December 2005 (next to be held in December 2009)
election results: Chamber of Senators - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - PODEMOS 13, MAS 12, UN 1, MNR 1; Chamber of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MAS 73,
PODEMOS 43, UN 8, MNR 6
Bosnia and Herzegovina
bicameral Parliamentary Assembly or Skupstina
consists of the House of Peoples or Dom Naroda (15 seats, 5 Bosniak,
5 Croat, 5 Serb; members elected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's
House of Representatives and the Republika Srpska's National
Assembly to serve four-year terms); and the national House of
Representatives or Predstavnicki Dom (42 seats, 28 seats allocated
for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and 14 seats for the
Republika Srpska; members elected by popular vote on the basis of
proportional representation, to serve four-year terms); note -
Bosnia's election law specifies four-year terms for the state and
first-order administrative division entity legislatures
elections: House of Peoples - last constituted in January 2003 (next
to be constituted in 2007); national House of Representatives -
elections last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in 2010)
election results: House of Peoples - percent of vote by
party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - NA; national House
of Representatives - percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats
by party/coalition - SDA 9, SBiH 8, SNSD 7, SDP 5, SDS 3, HDZ-BH 3,
HDZ1990 2, other 5
note: the Bosniak/Croat Federation has a bicameral legislature that
consists of a House of Peoples (58 seats - 17 Bosniak, 17 Croat, 17
Serb, 7 other); last constituted December 2002; and a House of
Representatives (98 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms); elections last held 1 October 2006 (next to be
held in October 2010); percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party/coalition - SDA 28, SBiH 24, SDP 17, HDZ-BH 8, HDZ1990 7,
other 14; the Republika Srpska has a National Assembly (83 seats;
members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); elections
last held 1 October 2006 (next to be held in the fall of 2010);
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party/coalition - SNSD 41,
SDS 17, PDP 8, DNS 4, SBiH 4, SPRS 3, SDA 3, other 3; as a result of
the 2002 constitutional reform process, a 28-member Republika Srpska
Council of Peoples (COP) was established in the Republika Srpska
National Assembly including eight Croats, eight Bosniaks, eight
Serbs, and four members of the smaller communities
Botswana
bicameral Parliament consists of the House of Chiefs (a
largely advisory 15-member body with 8 ex-officio members consisting
of the chiefs of the principal tribes, and 7 non-permanent members
serving 5-year terms, consisting of 4 elected subchiefs and 3
members selected by the other 12 members) and the National Assembly
(63 seats, 57 members are directly elected by popular vote, 4 are
appointed by the majority party, and 2, the President and
Attorney-General, serve as ex-officio members; members serve
five-year terms)
elections: National Assembly elections last held 16 October 2009
(next to be held in 2014)
election results: percent of vote by party - BDP 53.3%, BNF 21.9%,
BCP 19.2%, 2.3%, other 4.3%; seats by party - BDP 45, BNF 6, BCP 4,
BAM 1, other 1
Brazil
bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of
the Federal Senate or Senado Federal (81 seats; 3 members from each
state and federal district elected according to the principle of
majority to serve eight-year terms; one-third and two-thirds elected
every four years, alternately) and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara
dos Deputados (513 seats; members are elected by proportional
representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: Federal Senate - last held 1 October 2006 for one-third
of the Senate (next to be held in October 2010 for two-thirds of the
Senate); Chamber of Deputies - last held 1 October 2006 (next to be
held in October 2010)
election results: Federal Senate - percent of vote by party - NA;
seats by party - PFL 6, PSDB 5, PMDB 4, PTB 3, PT 2, PDT 1, PSB 1,
PL 1, PPS 1, PRTB 1, PP 1, PCdoB 1; Chamber of Deputies - percent of
vote by party - NA; seats by party - PMDB 89, PT 83, PFL 65, PSDB
65, PP 42, PSB 27, PDT 24, PL 23, PTB 22, PPS 21, PCdoB 13, PV 13,
PSC 9, other 17; note - as of 1 January 2009, the composition of the
entire legislature is as follows: Federal Senate - seats by party -
PMDB 21, DEM (formerly PFL) 12, PSDB 13, PT 12, PTB 7, PDT 5, PR 4,
PSB 2, PCdoB 1, PRB 1, PP 1, PSC 1, PSOL 1; Chamber of Deputies -
seats by party - PMDB 95, PT 79, PSDB 59, DEM (formerly PFL) 53, PR
44, PP 40, PSB 29, PDT 25, PTB 19, PPS 14, PV 14, PCdoB 13, PSC 11,
PMN 5, PRB 4, PHS 3, PSOL 3, PTC 1, PTdoB 1
British Virgin Islands
unicameral House of Assembly (13 elected
seats and 1 non-voting ex officio member in the attorney general;
members are elected by direct popular vote, 1 member from each of
nine electoral districts, 4 at-large members; members serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held 20 August 2007 (next to be held in 2011)
election results: percent of vote by party - VIP 45.2%, NDP 39.6%,
independent 15.2%; seats by party - VIP 10, NDP 2, independent 1
Brunei
The Sultan appointed a council with 29 members as of 2
September 2005; the council has met in March of each year since then
elections: last held in March 1962 (date of next election NA)
note: The Legislative Council met on 25 September 2004 for first
time in 20 years with 21 members appointed by the Sultan; it passed
constitutional amendments calling for a 45-seat council with 15
elected members