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This is how the work to modify the Electoral Law is going in the Senate

Así van los trabajos de modificación de la Ley electoral en el Senado

Santo Domingo.- The Senate commission that is studying to modify the Electoral Law and the Political Parties Law refused to exempt the Central Electoral Board (JCE) from organizing primary elections as well as gender parity in the electoral ballots, both proposals of the electoral body.

With regard to the primaries, the JCE aspired only to provide logistical support for said activity and carry out supervision tasks.

Since the last electoral process, the members of the plenary session of the JCE saw in the primaries of the parties a distraction in relation to the organization of the elections and considered that this function diminished their credibility prior to the general elections.

While gender parity, a proposal assumed by the current management of the JCE, would only be assumed in the lists of candidates of the Central American parliament and in the national councils.

The current law contemplates a proportion of 40-60, neither of the two genders being able to exceed said limits.

We recommend: JCE reaffirms its commitment to transparency and the quality of democracy

Other proposals that have been rejected to date were the reduction of campaign caps as suggested by the JCE, as well as the obligation to organize presidential debates.

Among the advances obtained by the commission that studies the initiatives and that is chaired by Senator Ricardo de los Santos, is included the election of at least one member of the plenary that is of an electoral administrative career and the requirement of twelve years of professional practice for the five positions available.

Likewise, the electoral boards that are made up of a thousand or more electoral colleges will have a president and four members, one of their members being at least a graduate or doctor of law.

It is also proposed that the acts issued by the plenary session of the JCE have a temporary character subject to the very reality to which they refer with what they affirm, they would guarantee legal certainty.

Article 282 of the current Law was modified and deals with falsehood in electoral matters, suppressing three criminal types (bribery, acts of electoral management and the display of electoral propaganda within the premises of the electoral colleges) for not constituting falsehood being moved to a next article.

The penalties to be imposed for said violations would be from one to three years in prison and not from three to ten years as the JCE had originally requested.


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