The Chamber of Deputies is constituted by 155 members called deputies or diputados in Spanish and they are elected for a four-years period. Re-election is possible for a maximum of two times, which means that the deputy may remain in the post for up to 12 years.[3] The country has 60 electoral districts and each one is represented by two deputies.
The Senate is formed by 50 senators elected for an eight-years period and may go for re-election one time, which means a senator can remain in the role for 16 years.[3] The electoral division is different from the deputies, it is made of 19 senatorial constituencies (Spanish:circunscripción senatorial), where two senators are elected per constituency.
The Congress's powers, duties and processes are defined in articles 42 to 59 of the current constitution of 1980 and through the Constitutional Organic Law No. 18918[4] published in 1990.
The current electoral system (or voting system) in Chile is proportional and inclusive according to the 2015 update of the organic law No. 18700, article 179 bis.[5]
The National Congress was closed without an immediate renewal of the members of its two chambers during three periods: 1924-1925, June-October 1932 and 1973-1989.
A new four-years legislative period begins with the installation of the National Congress. The LVI legislative period of the Chilean Congress began on March 11, 2022 and will end in 2026.
During the last years of the Pinochet regime, the current building of Congress was built in the port city of Valparaíso, some 140 km west of the country's capital, Santiago. This new building replaced the Former National Congress Building, located in downtown Santiago.
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