One of the novelties for the 2023 sectional elections will be the mandatory debate. The distribution of the money allocated to these activities is not clear.
Minority advisers and electoral experts agree that the Electoral Operating Budget (POE) 2023 lacks technical support, because not enough discharges have been presented to justify the investment of each of the amounts.
On March 2, 2022, the electoral budget for the 2023 sectional elections. In a report published on social networks, the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Diana Atamaint, confirmed that the total expense will be $109,344,945.81. Of those, $841,362, 62 will be allocated to the debates of the candidates for mayors and prefectures.
IMPORTANT | What #FullCNEtonight we approved the electoral budget for the #Election2023Ec. Know the details ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/SW45DnbW2V
– Diana Atamaint (@DianaAtamaint) March 3, 2022
Criticism of the budget came right away, beginning with the members of the CNE, as Elena Nájerawho hinted that there would be an administrative problem by subdividing the total item into small contracts and invited Comptroller to “put an eye” on this process.
THE TIME had access to the detailed document of the 2023 Electoral Operating Budget, which is awaiting approval by the Ministry of Finance.
The document does not include rates or proformas that support the awarded values. There is no list of companies or providers of the organization and broadcasting services of the debates.
This was one of the reasons why the councilors Nájera and Pita they voted against the budget, arguing that it is not a technical document and accusing it of being inconsistent.
The information is incomplete
According to article 11 of the Regulation of Electoral Debates of the CNE, The National Coordination for the Development of Informative Products and Electoral Services, through the National Directorate of Political Analysis, is in charge of carrying out the technical reports and studies necessary to define the place, location and capacity for the development of the electoral debate. ; which will be without an audience.
One of the doubts left by the two vocal opponents of the budget, in the session of March 2, 2022, is how they came to calculate those values without offers or rates to support them.
Article 25 of the same regulation refers to accessibility mechanisms, as sign language interpreters. This item is also not disaggregated in the POE 2023.
Numbers that attract attention
In principle, for the electoral debates, a proposal was contemplated, from the Communication area, of $2.5 million, with the organization centered in Quito. Enrique Pita, Vice President of the CNE He opposed. The budget was $841,362.62, distributed among the provincial electoral delegations.
However, Pita told THE TIME that his questioning is that, although the cost has been lowered sustainably, “practically the values do not have support and support”. The optimal thing, said Pita, would have been to accompany the budget with economic proposals or proformas that can give an approximate of the public investment for the debates.
There are also some contradictions. For example, one proforma sent by the Provincial Delegation of Cotopaxi, with a value of $13,440 for two debates, which, however, in the budget shows a value of $28,783.
On the night of March 2, 2022, in a virtual plenary session of the CNE, the vice president of the institution, Pitacomplained that he had requested reports from the Communications Department without receiving a response.
what can happen
Pita, explained that the risk of presenting the Ministry of Finance a budget with so many deficiencies and weaknesses in its structure, exposes them to “as on previous occasions, they are the ones who set the amounts for us”
On the other hand, Counselor José Cabrera, who voted in favor of the budget, told THE TIME that you are sure that the cost will be less.
Regarding the doubts of the directors Pita and Nájera, Cabrera maintained that they have every right to question. And, he clarified that the values will be adjusted but that it was necessary to continue with the electoral schedule. “These are the maximum values to spend,” he said.
Cabrera will ask for a delegate from each ministry to review the contracts.
Other questions
The budgeted value for the candidate information campaign to the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control is 5,998,755.84 dollars. For Pita, this is one of the “pearls” of the budget due to the amount and because it is based on a single quote.
While, for Minister Nájera, using the Institution’s own resources, such as cameras and a team of designers, this electoral promotion could cost the country much less.
38 political debates will be held in 21 cantons and 17 provinces,
Sectional elections with mandatory debates
In accordance with article 202, numeral 2 of the Organic Law of the Code of Democracy, modified in 2019, the debates will be mandatory in jurisdictions that have more than 100 thousand voters. Candidates for prefects and mayors must attend, otherwise they could be fined. The debates must be held three weeks before the day set for the elections. (GVL)
