At stake in this election:      

• 21 seats in Dominica’s House of Assembly

Description of government structure:

• Head of State: President Charles A. SAVARIN (since 2 October 2013)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Roosevelt SKERRIT (since 8 January 2004)
• Assembly: Dominica has a unicameral House of Assembly with 21 seats and 9 Senators.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by the House of Assembly to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the President.
• In the House of Assembly, 21 members are elected by plurality vote in single member constituencies to serve 5-year terms and 9 members are appointed by the President on the advice of Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to serve 5-year terms. *

* Parliament's 21 elected members decide whether they will elect the 9 Senators or allow for the appointment them. If Parliament prescribes that instead of being appointed, the Senators are to be appointed then the President appoints them, 5 are appointed in acting on the advice of the Prime Minister and 4 in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The Speaker of the House and the Clerk of the House serve ex-officio.

Election Note:

On Monday 8 December 2014, Dominica will hold an election for the House of Assembly.[i]

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Dominica Labor Party (DLP)
  Leader: Roosevelt SKERRIT
  Seats won in last election: 18
• Party: United Workers Party (UWP)
  Leader: Lennox Linton
  Seats won in last election: 3

Last election:

• The last election to the House of Assembly in Dominica was held on 18 December 2009.[ii] Turnout was 54.87 percent and 36,883 of 67,223 people casted ballots.[iii] The Dominica Labor Party (DLP) won 61.34 percent of the vote or 18 seats in parliament, while the United Workers Party (UWP) won 34.73 percent of the vote or 3 seats in parliament.[iv] Results can be found here.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 73,449 (July 2014 est)[v]
• Registered Voters: 67,223 (2009)[vi]

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 36,378 (July 2014 est)[vii]
• Is Dominica a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (15 September 1980).[viii]
• Has Dominica ratified CEDAW: Yes (15 September 1980)[ix]
• Gender Quota:  No.[x]
• Female Candidates in this election: N/A
• Number of Female Legislators: 4 (12.9%) of 31 seats in the House of Assembly.[xi]
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 93[xii]
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Ranking: Not Ranked (latest rankings are from 2014)[xiii]