Ensuring respect for the electoral rules is to take care of democracy
March 24, 2022
One of the pillars of the Social and Democratic Rule of Law lies in the existence of clear electoral rules and competent and autonomous authorities that enforce them, guaranteeing respect for the will of the citizenry, making political pluralism and alternation in power possible. When these postulates fail, the whole institutional scaffolding is put at serious risk and citizen distrust deepens.
It is for this reason that the organizations and platforms subscribing this communication demand that the President of the Republic, the National Registrar of the Civil Status, the National Electoral Council and the Attorney General’s Office comply with their duty and guarantee full transparency in the completion of the current scrutiny process of the congressional elections and the presidential elections of May and June, as mandated by the existing constitutional and legal norms.
In this context, we must express our rejection to the reiterated and undue interference of the President of the Republic in the electoral debate, interference that has included, among other actions, the elimination of a vital article in the law of guarantees allowing multi-million state contracts on the eve of the elections under the figure of inter-administrative agreements; the repeated attacks on one of the presidential candidates of the opposition, the express allusion to the coalition for which he would vote and the assault on the scrutiny process, carried out by more than five thousand judges, through the reckless call to carry out a “general recount” of the votes cast by the citizens on March 13. Likewise, we expect political groups to refrain from generating disinformation.
Likewise, the negligent and mistaken actions of the Registrar Alexander Vega have seriously affected the confidence of the citizens and the political parties in said institution, which undoubtedly disturbed with his actions and omissions the electoral day of March 13. Among these actions it is worth mentioning that at least 300 thousand people were unable to vote, since the change of polling place was not made effective; the crash for more than 12 hours of the web page and the web application that allows citizens to consult their polling place on election day; the arbitrary change of polling places for many citizens; the deficit of polling stations and electoral material available for the elections abroad; the presumed conformation of jurors of the same political inclination; the precarious training of the electoral jurors; the modifications to the design of the voting cards without the realization of the technical tables with political organizations and electoral observation missions on the electoral material with the purpose of reviewing and approving it in advance. Finally, the anti-technical design of the E 14 form and the repetition of obsolete processes for the pre-count and the transmission of data for some political groups.
Now, despite the irregularities and errors mentioned above, it should be noted that in the March 13 elections there was a magnificent mobilization of citizens in favor of a democratic culture that valued and cared for the vote. Thousands of people exercised their right to citizen control and alerted the failures in such a way that the will expressed in the ballot boxes was recognized and that the errors presented in the pre-count were corrected. In addition, a vast majority of the political parties converged to request the unrestricted respect of the electoral rules.
For all of the above reasons, we, the undersigned organizations and platforms, make the following announcements, recommendations and requests, especially in view of the May 29 presidential election process:
1. Through the development of a set of legal actions we will seek to guarantee the political rights of citizens and the care of democracy, especially the impartiality of the authorities and the transparency of the electoral process.
2. The Registrar’s Office must guarantee that the jurors at each voting table are not homogeneous and therefore the drawing of lots for the designation of jurors must be carried out with full transparency and access to political parties.
3. The Registrar’s Office must make a great effort to qualify the training processes of the jurors, as well as to increase and improve the electoral pedagogy, especially regarding the registration of cédulas, voting place, and of course the importance of voting and participation.
4. The Registrar must guarantee that all technological devices work and are accessible to the citizenry, that they do not constitute obstacles to the exercise of the right to vote, especially the process of registration of cédulas, the consultation of voting stations and voting tables, and the accreditation of electoral witnesses.
5. The Registrar’s Office must convene and hold technical tables, with the participation of the political groups and the electoral observation missions, so that all the details of the electoral material may be agreed upon prior to its printing and distribution.
6. The three copies of the E-14 form must be eliminated and replaced by a single copy that by means of a photo or photocopy is transmitted to the media and to the official page of the Registrar’s Office.
7. The sessions of each scrutiny commission should be transmitted live, from the municipal and departmental commissions to the national one, so that the citizenry may know and verify the actors and the procedures used to resolve complaints.
8.Continue to collaborate with national and international observation in the stage of consolidation of the results of the parliamentary elections and the first round and second round of the presidential elections. We call on the United Nations, the OAS, the EU and other electoral observation missions to help the citizens of Colombia to achieve a transparent electoral process, which is essential to continue advancing on the road to peace.
9. Given the serious loss of confidence that Registrar Alexander Vega has generated in the citizenry and political organizations, we request the appointment of an Ad Hoc Registrar to coordinate the presidential elections until the results are consolidated.
10. Finally, we call on citizens to vote massively, to participate in the observation of the entire electoral process: we invite you to take care of Democracy.
More informations:
Press Human Rights Platforms / Phone: 311 262 7653 / [email protected]
Democracy at Risk Press / Phone 316 2920848 / [email protected]
