The Senate has 36 seats. Each of the country's nine departments returns four senators elected by proportional representation (using the D'Hondt method).[2] (From 1985 to 2009, the Senate had 27 seats: three seats per department: two from the party or formula that receives the most votes, with the third senator representing the second-placed party.) Senators are elected from party lists to serve five-year terms, and the minimum age to hold a Senate seat is 35 years.
The Senate was established in the 1831, disestablished later, and re-established in 1878.[3]
Before the adoption of the new Constitution of 2009, this chamber was called National Senate (Spanish: Senado Nacional).