TSE training delegates on voting procedures
Kamilo Escalaute, from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, guided us through the complicated ins and outs of the many changes taking place this March 11th for the legislative elections. Some of these changes seem to be intended to bring out the vote. Others appear as if they will most likely bring out the chaos. Until voting day rolls around, it's hard to predict exactly how all of this will unfold.
Fraudulent elections have been a hallmark of the electoral process in years past with, for example, foreigners from surrounding nations being shipped in to cast a vote for their sponsoring allies. In 2004, one fellow was apprehended with a bunch of stolen ballots jammed up his shirt. Dead people turned out in force for the 2006 legislative elections. Some voters have been coerced into proving that they have voted for a particular right-wing party in order to keep their jobs. Already in the campaign lead-up to these upcoming elections, FMLN campaigners were attacked in the streets by 200 ARENA activists on January 11th, reminiscent of the attacks on FMLN supporters in October 2008.
Two changes have made it more difficult for foreigners to be rushed in to pack the vote. Free voting ID cards, called DUIs, have been newly issued and the cards from preceding years will not be accepted at this year's polling stations. Coupled with a great increase in residential voting centers, it will be more difficult for unknown foreign nationals to turn up and cast a ballot without detection. The traditional polling stations were concentrated in one central locality within each voting district, and people had to travel long distances to be able to vote.
The residential polling stations will also make it easier for women to vote, since they will be located much closer to home than the traditional ones. The added expense and time required to get to the polling stations in the past made it much more difficult for women to leave their families for a day to go cast a ballot.
On the side of chaos is the ballot itself. New requirements mean that all running legislative candidates must have their name and picture on each ballot. San Salvador, which is attributed 24 of the 84 electoral seats, has 8 political parties running 24 candidates each, plus two independents. That means 8 x 24 + 2 = 194 names and pictures, plus the party flags, all appear on a ballot the size of a standard newspaper page. Add that to the new law that allows for any individual (with sufficient money to pay a lawyer of course) to challenge the result, and the stage is set for delayed reporting of election results and mass confusion.
Polls will be open from 7am to 5pm on March 11th. After that the arduous process of counting the votes and determining who will represent the parties in the Legislative Assembly will begin. That process is expected to go on until 5 in the morning. International and national observers accredited by the TSE will be present for the entire process. At 30 degrees plus Celsius, it will be one hot election in El Salvador.
International observers in training, from Belgium, Canada, Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
No comments:
Post a Comment