Constituencies of Luxembourg

Constituencies (Luxembourgish: Walbezierker; French: Circonscriptions électorales; German: Wahlkreisen) are used to elect representatives ('deputies') to Luxembourg's unicameral national legislature, the Chamber of Deputies.

The basic principles of electoral law in Luxembourg are drawn out by Articles 63 and 64 of the Constitution.[1] The number of deputies is set at sixty,[2] and boundaries of the constituencies are based on administrative cantonal boundaries.[3] As a result, the constituencies have greatly differing populations, so each elects a different number of deputies, dependent upon the share of the national population.[4]

Suffrage is universal and compulsory amongst adult resident citizens not otherwise disqualified.[5] Luxembourg's electoral system is a form of the Hagenbach-Bischoff system (a variant of the D'Hondt method), which allocates seats to party lists by proportion of the votes won in each constituency. Under Luxembourg's system, each citizen may vote for as many candidates as there are deputies elected from that constituency. As a result, the national popular vote has no significance, as it reflects only the number of votes cast, and not the number of voters or the number of deputies elected.

Constituencies

There are four constituencies in Luxembourg:

Name Cantons Population
(2024) 		Deputies elected
Centre Luxembourg and Mersch 243,912 21
East Echternach, Grevenmacher and Remich 77,721 7
North Clervaux, Diekirch, Redange, Vianden, and Wiltz 103,326 9
South Capellen and Esch-sur-Alzette 247,091 23

The proposition to replace these four constituencies with a single, nationwide constituency has gained some traction in recent decades. Opinion polling conducted at the time of each general election has put public support for the proposition at 25% (1999), 53% (2009) and 69% (2013 and 2018), with voters of smaller parties favouring it the most.[6] As of 2023, of the parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies, four (LSAP, Greens, Left and Pirates) were in favour and three (CSV, DP and ADR) were against the reform.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Constitution du Grand-duché de Luxembourg" (PDF). legilux.public.lu (in French). 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2025-10-24.
  2. ^ Constitution, Article 63(1).
  3. ^ Constitution, Article 63(4).
  4. ^ Council of State, 15 July 1993.
  5. ^ Constitution, Articles 63(3), 64(1), 64(2).
  6. ^ #wielewatmirsinn - 100 Joer allgemengt Wahlrecht (in German). MNHA. 2019. ISBN 978-2-87985-629-2.
  7. ^ Ferry, Cédric (2023-10-03). "Ee grousse Walbezierk amplaz vu véier?". RTL (in Luxembourgish).
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