Less than three months before the municipal elections on November 6, 2022, the sanctioned Supreme Electoral Council (CSE), at the service of the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship, revealed that it delivered 403,384 ballots between January 3 and December 19. August 2022: 74 thousand 47 correspond to new admissions, 182 thousand 188 renewals and 147 thousand 149 are replacements.
In the first eight months of 2021, 621,760 identity cards were processed and delivered, a number higher than that registered in the same period of 2022, according to statistics from the Nicaraguan Electoral Power released prior to the votes that are already indicated as “fraudulent” by the opposition.
The electoral court is accused of executing and directing an “electoral farce” in which the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) is expected to gain absolute control of the country’s 153 mayoralties.
Related news: Sandinista regime presents its alliance before the CSE to participate in municipal elections
The ruling party already controls 135 municipalities and every four years, the CSE assigns more municipalities throughout the country. Daniel Ortega’s regime is preparing for municipal elections tailored to its needs, with comparsa parties that obey the regime’s orders to receive reimbursement for the electoral campaign.
They point out that the FSLN issues identity cards to young people who are old enough to exercise their right to vote. These actions would be carried out from house to house in the neighborhoods through the Sandinista Leadership Councils (CLS). In some homes they gather the young people, take their photographs, fill out the application form for the ID and a week later they give them the identity document that enables them to vote.
This year’s election calendar includes 37 activities for the municipal voting process. The period for presentation and registration of candidates for mayors, deputy mayors and councilors is from September 3 to 6. The CSE abolished the dates of citizen verification, the fixing of the register in the Voting Centers and the mechanisms to object to the electoral cartography, denounced the independent observatory Open Ballot Boxes.
Eliminated parties and imprisoned candidates
Last year, the dictatorship ordered the cancellation of the legal personality of three political parties, eliminating with this action the box of the main opposition groups: Conservative Party (PC), Democratic Restoration Party (PRD) and Citizens for Freedom (CxL) .
In addition, the dictatorship ordered the imprisonment of seven presidential candidates, including Cristiana Chamorro, the candidate with the greatest sympathy and popularity in the polls; businessmen; farmers; journalists; human rights defenders; political leaders; former diplomats and students.
After the votes and with allegations of irregularities, the CSE decided to eliminate the legal status of the Christian Way Party, a former FSLN ally. In addition, the operating permits for Enlace Canal 21 and a radio station were cancelled, both religious media outlets and one of the few that operated in the country.
