The late call for municipal voting on November 6 and the carrying out of activities in advance of the publication of the electoral calendar, are intended to “avoid citizen oversight” and show the “lack of transparency” of the process, warned the Urnas Abiertas citizen observatory. .
The political parties collaborating with the regime had been preparing for several months outside of the call for the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), held this Tuesday, August 16. In addition, these activities had the approval of the Police, which is the entity in charge of authorizing political rallies and which at the same time maintains a policy of repression against all kinds of citizen organizations.
For the director of Open Ballot Boxes, Olga Valle, this call with such little time in advance compromises “electoral and national integrity”, since it constitutes “a systematic practice” and “it is a discretionary decision of the CSE that affects the possibility that there will be a true organization, participation and citizen oversight”.
Similarly, an expert on municipal issues who works with Open Ballot Boxes, whose identity was protected for security reasons, warned that “the little transparency is evident“. Proof of this is that “the regime has already designated its own candidates and what the collaborationist parties have done is validate to continue in the positions.” In such a way that “we cannot say that there is a transparent call if the deadlines are met and citizens cannot freely decide their authorities,” he pointed out.
Valle, for his part, pointed out that the actions of the collaborationist parties outside the CSE call “is one of the first irregularities” that Urnas Abiertas registers in this electoral period. In addition, last July there was an increase in acts in favor of the PLC, APRE, PLI. “None of these events were harassed by the police or banned by the government, despite the widespread violence and de facto police state maintained by the regime in the country,” he stressed.
In addition, the formation of the Departmental, Regional and Municipal Electoral Councils has been carried out prior to the publication of the electoral calendar, so “their early formation detracts from the credibility of the work they carry out,” added Valle.
No citizen verification
On the other hand, the draft electoral calendar that was delivered to the political parties on August 15 does not mention citizen verification anywhere, an activity that had been carried out in previous electoral processes in order to purge the list and contribute to the transparency.
The calendar project only mentions that the last day to make a change of address is September 7, since that same day the list for voting in November closes. Fifteen days later, on September 22, the CSE will deliver to the parties the definitive register and the electoral cartography.
However, Valle recalled that since July 27 there has been confusion about the citizen verification because the party structure of the Sandinista Front called for a meeting for August 13 and 14, but in the end it did not happen.
“The political operators of the ruling party even threatened and harassed state workers to get them to participate in said activity. However, as the days went by, the same party structures modified the call, indicating that it would take place virtually from August 18 to 31,” Valle commented.
For the specialist at Open Ballot Boxes, with the way in which the CSE and the collaborationist parties proceed, “they are practically aiming to increase municipal control, which (the regime) already had. That is why, through pressure and repression, they are seeking absolute control and are pressuring other liberal local authorities to give in.”
This electoral process will also not have national and international electoral observers, which is why Open Ballot Boxes reiterated the need for a “credible, complete and legitimate” municipal electoral process and insisted “on the importance of reestablishing democratic conditions” in the country.
