Photo subject to copyright.
The Paraguayan Bar Association issued a statement at the request of certain political actors to proceed with the recount of the votes cast in the general elections held on April 30. In this sense, they consider necessary a clear position and an exhortation on compliance with legal regulations.
The statement states thathe entire electoral process in our country is governed by constitutional and legal mandates and norms. “In Paraguay, the vote is individual and secret, but the scrutiny is public and supervised, as required by art. 118 of the Constitution. For its part, the legislation that regulates electoral processes establishes that these stages have peremptory and non-extendable deadlines,” says the pronouncement.
They also indicate that for each election, and particularly the national ones, polling stations made up of representatives of the various political parties and movements in conflict are established. “The scrutiny, that is, the control of the number of validly issued ballots, is the exclusive and exclusive attribution of the polling station members and must be carried out on the same day and in the same venue where the elections were held,” they add.
It may interest you: “We are harming the country, you have to know how to lose, we lost”
They also state that the electoral regulations clearly establish that, the count will be carried out continuously, uninterrupted and out loud; and that once the counting process is completed, the board members or veedores are given the opportunity to object to any type of irregularity that they have received, after that, everything indicated above is reflected in minutes that are kept in their respective envelopes.
“Since 2019, the ballot papers used or not during election day are deposited in a separate envelope called the “fourth envelope”; this, based on the safeguard that Law 6318/19 establishes in relation to said ballots ”, they explain.
They underline whate in the Paraguayan electoral system there is no figure of the recount of votes after the scrutiny, the result of which is stamped in the respective electoral records; The stage that legally corresponds to be carried out is that of judging the validity of the respective minutes of the table. Any type of change to the electoral system requires a legislative or constitutional modification.
Also read: “He has to step aside”: Efraín Alegre continues adding voices against
“The Board of Directors of the Paraguayan Bar Association urges the parties, movements, political actors and citizens in general to respect the ongoing electoral process, to present claims peacefully at the stages and through the relevant means; and to wait vigilantly for the result of the elections, according to the judging of the minutes, from which the elected authorities will be proclaimed in the last general elections”, they insist.
