The fraud machine did exactly what was expected of it: control state workers to go vote; encourage their own to be encouraged to participate in a process in which no one believesand prevent the few opponents who did want to exercise their right, from reaching the corresponding Vote Receiving Board (JRV).
This Sunday, November 6, the Sandinista Front finished the staging of its municipal “elections” process, in which, supposedly, citizens would elect more than 6,000 people to occupy the positions of mayors, deputy mayors, and councilors.
The certainty that, in reality, no one was being elected, because the decision was made by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo several weeks ago, translated into empty streets, voting centers and JRVwhich forced the electoral machinery to redouble efforts to obtain even the photo that would ensure that they had had a high turnout.
“Early in the morning, the FSLN began its coercive work against state workers to force them to go to the polls to vote and enforce party guidelines. The public sector was instructed to attend from early hours, and send photos with the finger stained after the vote. This measure does not only apply to officials, on this occasion it was extended to their relatives. over 16 years old,” said Ligia Gómez, an investigator at Urnas Abiertas, reading the first cut of that entity, about the municipal farce.
That electoral observatory said that “complaints were received indicating that state workers were forced to stay for a longer period of time in the CVs to simulate participation, as well as to do work to transport voters,” after sending ” evidence of the vote”, to the political secretaries and heads of areas of the institutions for which they work.
The existence of these indications did not imply that everyone was welcome.
Opponents were not allowed to vote
The director of Open Ballot Boxes, Olga Valle, said that some people who are not recognized as militants of the Sandinista Front, were harassed by electoral police who took photos of them when they arrived at their polling station, or prevented them from entering. “There are cases of people who, while inside the JRV, are singled out as “gates” and then expelled,” she assured.
In some municipalities in the north of the country, where sympathizers and members of other political parties were preparing to defend the vote, there was harassment by members of the FSLN, who threatened the population so that they would not go out to vote, as they could be arrested or their burned vehicles.
Valle also said that they were able to verify the arrest of 17 people in the electoral context, in the departments of Rivas, Río San Juan, Masaya, Carazo, Nueva Segovia and Managua, from November 1, until 4:00 PM on the afternoon of Sunday 6.
Finally, it was indicated that, in addition to the proselytizing observed in and around the voting centers, with supporters of the Sandinista Front wearing clothes with the colors used by that organization, and the type of testimonial music with which they are normally associated, Vehicles from twenty public institutions were also observed, which were being used to transport voters.
The complaints received indicate that these vehicles are assigned to the Minsa, mayors, EPN, Mined, Police, firefighters, Army, Inafor, INSS, IPSA, INTA, Magfor, Mifamilia, Marena, Migob, Mefcca, Uraccan, Penitentiary System, and Power Judicial. Vans, trucks, microbuses, public transport motorcycle taxis and other civilian vehicles were also known, which would have been paid by the Government to carry out the same work.
