The case law evolution of the Colombian Council of State on political defection in Significant Groups of Citizens: A comparative perspective with Chile and Spain

Keywords: Political defection, independent candidacies, Significant Groups of Citizens, electoral law

Abstract

This article aims to examine the case law evolution of the Colombian Council of State concerning political defection and the prohibition of double party membership as applied to independent candidacies promoted by Significant Groups of Citizens, as well as the constitutional tensions generated by this interpretative expansion in relation to political participation rights. Currently, the jurisprudence of the Council of State has consolidated a restrictive approach regarding these liberties, extending sanctioning mechanisms originally designed to address party defections within the party system onto non-partisan forms of political participation, leading to the annulment of democratic elections. The research methodology is normative, jurisprudential, and doctrinal, adopting an analytical and comparative perspective with Chile and Spain in order to assess the constitutional scope of the Colombian model.

Received: 14 January 2026
Accepted: 25 March 2026

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Author Biography

Altus Alejandro Baquero Rueda, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá. Colombia

Magistrado del Consejo Nacional Electoral de Colombia.
Profesor de posgrado. Universidad Sergio Arboleda, Bogotá. Colombia

Published
2026-06-24
How to Cite
Baquero Rueda, Altus Alejandro. 2026. “The Case Law Evolution of the Colombian Council of State on Political Defection in Significant Groups of Citizens: A Comparative Perspective With Chile and Spain”. Estudios De Deusto 74 (1), 489-528. https://doi.org/10.18543/ed.3588.
Section
Iberoamerican Public Law