---
title: "Deputy Brenes Warns New Panama Circuit Map Lacks Electoral Proportionality"
date: 2026-09-10
author: "Panama Daily News"
url: https://panamadaily.news/2026/09/10/deputy-brenes-warns-new-panama-circuit-map-lacks-electoral-proportionality/
categories:
  - "Politics"
---

# Deputy Brenes Warns New Panama Circuit Map Lacks Electoral Proportionality

A Panamanian legislator has publicly challenged the country’s newly configured electoral circuits, warning that the redistribution of legislative seats fails to apply the principle of electoral proportionality in a uniform manner. Deputy Brenes raised the objection as Panama moves forward with a reconfiguration of its electoral circuits, a process that determines how seats in the National Assembly are distributed across the country’s territory.

## What Happened

Deputy Brenes stated that the reconfiguration of Panama’s electoral circuits does not apply the criterion of electoral proportionality uniformly across the new distribution of seats, known in Spanish as _curules_. The deputy’s warning, reported by TVN 2, points to concerns that some areas may be over- or under-represented relative to their populations under the new circuit boundaries.

The reconfiguration of circuits is a periodic exercise tied to Panama’s constitutional and legal framework for elections. It involves redrawing the geographic districts from which deputies are elected to the National Assembly, based largely on demographic changes recorded through the national census.

## Background

Panama’s National Assembly is composed of deputies elected from electoral circuits, which are geographic districts drawn across the country’s provinces and indigenous regions. The configuration of these circuits directly shapes the composition of the legislature, since each circuit elects one or more deputies depending on its population size.

The principle of proportionality holds that representation should reflect population distribution, so that circuits with similar numbers of voters elect similar numbers of representatives. When proportionality is applied unevenly, some voters may find their votes carry more or less weight depending on where they live, a concern frequently raised in debates over electoral districting in democracies around the world.

Circuit reconfigurations in Panama typically follow census results and are carried out in advance of general elections. Because the boundaries determine where candidates run and how votes translate into seats, the process is often politically sensitive, with parties and incumbents closely scrutinizing how the maps are drawn.

## What This Means for Panama

Deputy Brenes’s criticism adds a political voice to what may become a broader debate over the fairness of the new electoral map. If concerns about proportionality gain traction among other legislators, political parties, or electoral authorities, the reconfiguration could face calls for review or adjustment before the next electoral cycle.

The distribution of circuits affects not only parties’ electoral strategies but also the representation of Panama’s regions in the National Assembly. Areas that feel underrepresented under the new map could see their influence on national legislation diminished, while over-represented areas would gain relative weight in the legislature.

Observers of Panamanian politics will be watching to see whether the proportionality objection raised by Deputy Brenes prompts a formal response from the electoral authorities responsible for the reconfiguration, or whether it remains a point of political debate. The issue also highlights the recurring tension in electoral systems everywhere between demographic reality and political representation, and the importance of transparent criteria when legislative maps are redrawn.

For Panamanian voters, the configuration of circuits is a fundamental, if often overlooked, element of how democracy functions: it defines who they can vote for, how competitive their district is, and how their voice is translated into seats in the National Assembly.

This story was originally reported by [TVN 2](https://www.tvn-2.com/nacionales/diputada-alexandra-brenes-reconfiguracion-cuestiona-circuitos-tribunal-electoral-once-no-alcanzan-cociente-tendran-curul-asamblea-nacional_1_2260235.html).