Caribbean Elections - Barbados Elections

Overview of Electoral System

Here, we provide an overview of the electoral system in the country. Additional information may be found in the Country Browser.

Head of State	Inherited monarchy with a Governor-General appointed by the British Monarch
Head of Government	Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General
Structure of Parliament	Bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 21 seats and the House of Assembly with 30 seats.
Electoral Law	1 June 1971; Last amendment: 01/09/1990
Constituencies	30 single-member constituencies
Voting System	In the Senate 21 members are appointed by the governor-general. In the House of Assembly 30 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 5-year terms.
Term of Office	5 years for both chambers
Voter Requirements	- age: 18 years - Barbados citizenship (or Commonwealth citizenship if residence in the country for 3 years before elections) - residence in a constituency for 3 months - disqualifications: insanity, imprisonment, death sentence
Candidate Eligibility and Requirements	Qualified electors - age: 21 years - Barbados citizenship - residence in the country for more than 7 years - ineligibility: undischarged bankruptcy, allegiance to a foreign State, imprisonment exceeding 6 months, conviction of felony or of an offence involving dishonesty, electoral fraud - nomination by 4 electors - deposit equivalent to US$ 125, reimbursed if the candidate is elected or obtains more than 1/6 of the total votes cast in the constituency.
Electoral Authority	Barbados Electoral and Boundaries Commission
Last Elections	21 February 2013
Next Elections	February 2018

Political Parties

Here, we provide information on active political parties. A more comprehensive list of political parties may be found in our Knowledge Centre.

Party	Political Leader
Barbados Labour Party or BLP	Mia A. MOTTLEY
Democratic Labour Party or DLP	Freundel J. STUART
People's Empowerment Party or PEP	David COMISSIONG

Past Elections

Here, we provide links to results of past elections. This list is not all inclusive; we will continue to update the list and encourage you to assist us in filling any observed gaps. Notify us if you think a resource listed here has become deceptive or unfactual.

Year	Specific Date	Election Type	View Results	Source
1966	2 November 1966	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1971	9 September 1971	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1976	2 September 1976	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1981	18 June 1981	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1986	28 May 1986	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1991	22 January 1991	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1994	6 September 1994	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
1999	20 January 1999	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
2003	21 May 2003	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
2008	15 January 2008	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com
2011	20 January 2011	Parliamentary by-election		CaribbeanElections.com
2013	15 January 2008	Parliamentary		CaribbeanElections.com

Election Reports

Here, we provide official reports of past elections and reports from election observation missions. This list is not all inclusive; we will continue to update the list and encourage you to suggest other resources you think we should list here. You may also view our collection of Election Observer Reports in our Reading Room.

This section is currently being updated.

Party Manifestos

Here, we provide party manifestos from previous elections. This list is not all inclusive; we will continue to update the list and encourage you to suggest other resources you think we should list here. You may also view our collection of manifestos in our Reading Room.