The municipal elections in Nicaragua held this Sunday, November 6, have been held “under absolute territorial control”, arbitrary arrests, pressure on state workers, among other anomalies, confirmed the independent observatory Open Ballot Boxes.
In the first report of the multidisciplinary teampublished the afternoon of this day prior to the closing of the voting boards (JRV), scheduled for 6 p.m., details that, from November 1 to date, they verified 17 arrests in six departments of the country: Rivas, Río San Juan, Masaya, Carazo, Nueva Segovia and Managua.
Based on the reports received at this time in 75% of the country’s municipalities, they highlight that “public workers, opposition figures and citizens in general are watched by the ruling party from block to block, either to force them to vote or to harass them and avoid any expression of resistance.
In most of the voting centers (CV) observed, the installation of checkpoints was also identified on the outskirts of the CVs and in neighboring houses, in charge of political operators of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) who watched and took attendance.
In 42% of the centers, citizens reported “disadvantages” for not being on the electoral roll. The voters who did not appear were attacked and expelled from the place, accused of “coup plotters”, a description that the dictatorial couple, Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo, designate the opponents.
“This occurs in a context where more than one million 300 thousand people have been eliminated from this catalog of voters,” indicates the observatory.
In the process, political proselytism and usurpation of functions with the imposition of route chiefs or political secretaries of the FSLN were also reported.
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“The public sector was instructed to attend from early hours and send photos with stained finger after the vote. The regime even sent the warning to family members of state workers. The pressures were made house to house, however, the polls remained empty, mainly in municipalities with few state workers.
A total of 3,722,884 Nicaraguans over the age of 16, out of a population of 6.6 million, were called to elect the mayors, deputy mayors and councilors of the 153 municipalities of Nicaragua, according to data from CSE, which terminated 755,450 voters in one year without explaining the reasons.
