Archive for the ‘Electoral System’ Category
Regional and Municipal Election Results
The “Living in Peru” weblog is providing good coverage of the regional and municipal elections.
Municipal and Regional Election Results
See the ONPE website for regional and municipal election results.
JNE Proclaims Alan Garcia President
Having computed and processed 100 percent of the ballots, the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) announced the official results of the second round of the presidential election the other day. Not to be outdone, the National Election Board (JNE) proclaimed Garcia president-elect, thereby bringing the electoral process to an end. Garcia assumes office on July 28, 2006.
Sólo faltan actas de Japón para tener resultados al 100%
A partir del 2007 habrá voto electrónico
Faltan 186 actas para cerrar conteo electoral
Debate on Parties, Preferential Vote and Electoral Threshold
Most of the action on this blog today is in the “comments” section under the posting on “Constructive but Fragmented Opposition in Congress” below.
Videíto no manda
Declaracion Mision de Observacion del Parlamento Europeo
Electorate Outside Peru Voted for Alan Garcia
Transparencia y la OEA: Proceso fue normal
10:50 am UPP Press conference
Eduardo Garibotto of the Unión por el Perú (UPP) alleged that Jaime Brossard has been working with APRA as a national vote scrutinizer. He was part of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE) under José Portillo, the Fujimori official responsible for the fraudulent elections of 2000. Brossard is a computer specialist, and he was singled out by congress for responsibility in adulterating the vote count.
En conferencia de prensa el vocero de Unión por el Perú, Eduardo Garibotto, anunció que el partido aprista peruano nombró anoche como personero técnico nacional a Jaime Brossard. Brossard fué gerente de informática de la ONPE bajo José Portillo en el 2000. El 4 de julio de ese mismo año Brossard fué hallado responsable de adulteración de votos preferenciales, según el informe de la Mayoría del Congreso peruano que investigó el caso.
Interview with Enrique Mendoza (JNE)
A press conference with Enrique Mendoza, president of the National Electoral Board (JNE), will take place at noon.
OAS Mission: Adequate Organization and Administration in place for Election Day
The OAS Mission is confident that the results of the election will be respected. Chief of Mission Lloyd Axworthy met with Alan Garcia after which he said there have been severe confrontations in the second round of the presidential election and he called for the period of calm before election day to be observed.
Misión de observación electoral del Parlamento Europeo
La misión de observación electoral del Parlamento Europeo inició oficialmente su visita al Perú el 2 de junio. Comunicado: Download file
Comentarios al informe preliminar de la misión observadora de la OEA
MOE de la OEA: Informe de observación preelectoral
Ollanta Humala Campaign Closing in Lima & President Toledo Speech to the Nation
Transparencia Quick Count on Sunday
Transparencia will provide its quick count results at 7:00 pm on Sunday.
APRA y UPP aseguran personeros al 100%
ONPE ofrecerá primer reporte al 60% a las 9:00 pm del 4 de junio
JNE y las restricciones a encuestadoras
Chief of OAS Electoral Mission Met with Ministers of Defense and Interior
ONPE: Segunda vuelta está garantizada
Magdalena Chú, jefa de la Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE), descartó un fraude el 4 de junio y resaltó que los comicios serán supervisados por el JNE, la Defensoría y observadores internacionales. Tambien comentó que el conteo de votos de los peruanos que sufragan en el exterior se realizará de forma más rápida que en la primera vuelta.
APEIM se queja por veto del JNE
La Asociación Peruana de Empresas de Investigación de Mercados (APEIM) se quejó por el veto del Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) a difundir los sondeos de intención de voto para la segunda vuelta a través de los medios electrónicos (Internet, mensajes de texto, llamadas telefónicas, etc.), denunciandolo como un intento de censura.
Peruvian Government Vetos Venezuelan Election Observer
A Venezuelan election official closely linked to the government of Hugo Chavez will not be acredited to participate as an international monitor in the second round of the election according to the National Election Board. Jorge Rodriguez was identified as one of the election observers who was in the voting booth with Ollanta Humala on election day when Humala was virtually taken hostage by a hostile mob.
OAS Electoral Mission Back for Round Two
The OAS Electoral Observation Mission is reinstalling itself for the second round of the election.
Congressional vote update
Rici kindly offers the following update on the congressional vote count:
As the revision of congressional votes continues, there has been a general trend of slight increases in UPP votes in strong UPP districts. Interestingly, over the last month the total popular vote for all parties has remained virtually the same, but the number of seats allocated to UPP has continued to increase. As of Saturday May 20 (the last ONPE webpage update), the congressional standings are:
UPP: 45
Apra: 36
Unidad Nacional: 17
Alianza por el Futuro: 12
Frente de Centro: 5
Restauración Nacional: 3
Perú Posible: 2
Since my last update, that represents a gain by UPP of one seat from Apra (in Cusco) and a gain by RN of one seat from AF (in Lima).
Both of these contests are very close, and it is possible that they will change again. Cusco is at 89% of polls counted, and Lima is at 77%. In all, counting is finished in 18 of the 25 districts, but slight changes are still possible as a result of appeals.
RN’s popular vote is currently 3.988% and PP’s is currently 3.978%. However, the bulk of the uncounted votes are in Lima, where RN is polling at 4.8% and PP at 6.9%, so I’m pretty confident that both of them will make it over the quota. However, it will be tight, particularly in the case of RN.
In addition to the two districts where the overall outcome is still in doubt, there are a couple of quite close preferential counts. The closest of these is in Piura, where UPP won two seats; the second and third place preferential vote winners for UPP differ by only 6 votes (out of about 14,000). While Piura is theoretically at 100%, I suppose it is still possible that there are outstanding appeals, and a single polling station’s results could alter the order of preferential votes.
There are also quite close preferential races for the only Apra congressional seat in Junin, and for the fifth Apra congressional seat in La Libertad.
If the results stand as they are at present, there will be 35 women in the new congress, by my count, which is just under 30%. That might be a bit disappointing (it is lower than the percentage of women candidates), but it is a lot more than the current congress (or any previous congress), and in my opinion illustrates the importance of open-list preferential voting.
It is also interesting to note that UPP will have congresistas from 24 of the 25 districts, while Apra will represent 20 of the 25 districts. Unidad Nacional only managed to elect congresistas in 10 districts.
Congreso aprueba valla de 35% para elecciones regionales
Buscando garantizar la gobernabilidad y representatividad en los gobiernos regionales y locales, la Comisión de Constitución del Congreso aprobó el establecimiento de una “valla electoral” regional del 35% de los votos válidamente emitidos y la realización de una segunda vuelta en caso no se supere esa cifra, en el que formarían parte las listas con las dos votaciones más altas. Esto le daría mayor legitimidad a quien resulte elegido.
Controversy over Disputed Returns
The National Election Board blames the National Office for Electoral Processes for the large number of disputed voting returns in the general election of April 9, pointing to the poor training of the members of voting booths. For its part, the ONPE, which has begun to send election material abroad, blames the problem on the difficulty that members of voting booths had in submitting returns given the complexity of the ballot–with three elections being held simultaneously–and the large number of parties.
UN Accuses APRA of Fraud
Javier Bedoya has denounced the orchestration of fraud by the APRA against the candidate of UN, Lourdes Flores. According to Bedoya, APRA used its scrutineers in Cajamarca, Lambayeque and Trujillo to steal votes from Flores. A spokesperson for APRA said there is no proof to support these claims and that it is an attack on ONPE and the JNE. Moreover, UN should have had scrutineers at all the polling booths.
JNE Calls on APRA and UP to Behave
The National Election Board has issued a call for candidates to refrain from insults and low blows.
Seats in Congress: The latest projections
Once again, we are in debt to Rici for the latest seat count.
Download file
64,644 voting returns challenged
According to the National Election Board, inadequate training of members of voting booths has resulted in an extraordinary number of voting returns being disputed. There are 88,481 voting stations across the country, and as many as 64,644 voting returns challenged or subject to review due to material errors. In 2001, only 15 percent of the returns were disputed.
ONPE inicia impresión de cédulas para la segunda vuelta
ONPE’s vote count
Political Parties Campaign Fundraising
El Comercio has a special with coverage on political parties’ campaign fundraising. It reports that Peru Posible ($1.8M) was the biggest spender during the first round campaign, followed by Alianza por el progreso ($1.2M), Unidad Nacional ($1.2M) and APRA ($0.99M). Currently there are no penalties for fundraising irregularities. ONPE is requesting the capacity to impose sanctions.
Percy Medina, Transparencia, supports moral sanctions against political parties not presenting financial campaign information on time. Mauricio Mulder, APRA, has demanded that ONPE verify the sources of financial funding and amounts for Union por el Peru to be sure the Venezuelan government is not providing financial support for Humala’s campaign.
OAS Mission on the Second Round
The OAS Electoral Observation Mission has issued a press release on the second round of the election.
Foto: Ricardo Choy-Kifox. Andina Agencia Peruana de Noticias.
According to El Comercio, in its web edition, the OAS Mission chief Lloyd Axworthy called on foreign governments to respect the sovereignty of the Peruvian people so that they can elect the next president without undue influence. He said it was not the task of the mission to participate directly in the differences of opinion among government–above all in diplomatic affairs. Furthermore, the mission is not in a position to impose sanctions on the Chavez government.
“But yes we will view seriously when there are declarations by any government that might be seen as an effort to influence the vote,” said Axworthy. He made an invocation for governments to operate on the basis of mutual respect and allow the Peruvian people to choose their next government according to their own interests. This principle applies in any democratic system and includes not just foreign actors but also candidates, officials, polling companies, and other groups, he said, and noted that it is the basis of credibility and trust in the election outcome. The OAS has mechanisms for dealing with persistent interference, above all through the Permanent Council.
According to CPN Radio, Axworthy mentioned that the mission is working to determine whether there was any type of irregularity with respect to the delay in the vote scrutiny or vote counting in the April 9 election. He expressed his commitment to guaranteeing that Peru will undertake its electoral process in a manner that is “free and fair and transparent, without interference, whether from inside or outside the country.” Axworthy also expressed his support for a debate between the candidates, so that votes might know their respective platforms. He met separately with Carlos Torres Caro and Jorge Del Castill but would not specify the topics of discussion.
The press conference was covered by AP, and picked up by El Universal in Mexico.
ONPE: Conteo de votos al Congreso al 78.75%
Source: El Comercio, 09 de mayo del 2006
The Peruvian Electorate Population in the First Round
Source: El Comercio, 09 de mayo del 2006
Free Identity Cards for Low Income Peruvians
Source: El Peruano, 08 de mayo del 2006
The decision by RENIEC to process requests for identity cards at no cost for inhabitants of low income districts removes a major barrier to citizenship in Peru. As many as one million Peruvians could benefit from this measure.
El Registro Nacional de Identificación y Estado Civil (RENIEC) autorizó la tramitación y expedición gratuita del Documento Nacional de Identidad (DNI) para habitantes de 201 distritos, de un total de mil 818 localidades del país, con muy bajos recursos registrados en el Mapa de Pobreza del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF) y calificados por el Fondo de Cooperación para el Desarrollo Social (Foncodes). Esta campaña también aprueba los trámites gratuitos de renovación, duplicado y rectificación de datos, a excepción de cambio domiciliario. Más de un millón de personas serán beneficiadas hasta fin de año.
Parties Prepare to Pull and Defend their Votes
APRA and UPP will seek to have “personeros” (or scrutineers) at all 88 thousand polling booths throughout Peru in the election on June 4. Meanwhile, the ONPE awaits the proclamation of the election results so it can start to print the ballots. Election officials are looking at ways of restricting the circulation of polls abroad in the final week of the electoral process.
Toledo Broke the Law Say Election Authorities
Election officials say President Alejandro Toledo violated the law by saying the election is between “democracy and authoritarianism.”
Formal Convocation of Election Awaits Congressional Vote Count
Slow progress is being made on the congressional vote count. The JNE still has not called for ballots to be printed for the second round presidential election. In fact, the election has not been called, legally, and cannot be called until 100 percent of all votes–presidential and parliamentary–are counted.
Parties need to defend the vote before criticizing ONPE
Juan Paredes Castro says that Humala and Flores need to ask themselves why they did not have scrutineers at the polls where they claim to have lost votes. They should not blame others (ONPE, for example) for their own inability to defend their votes.
Toledo meddles in campaign
Toledo has made a speech in Trujillo, which he called the “heart of the APRA,” in which he said the election is a decision between “democracy and authoritarianism.” The statement was made following the signing of a decree initiating the third stage of a public works project. Toledo’s interference in the election campaign has been criticized by Ollanta Humala.
La ONPE, el JNE y la Cancillería rechazan cuestionamiento de Unidad Nacional al proceso electoral
La puesta en duda de Lourdes Flores Nano de la transparencia de elecciones, generó las reacciones de total rechazo por parte de Magdalena Chu, Jefa de la ONPE; de Enrique Mendoza, presidente del JNE y de Óscar Maúrtua de Romaña, ministro de Relaciones Exteriores.
The insinuation of fraud by Lourdes Flores has been roundly rejected by the head of ONPE, the JNE, and the Chancellry. Reaction by editorialists has been very negative. The overall impression is that Flores has made allegations that are unclear–and hence it is hard to determine whether they have any basis–and which could be harmful to the electoral process.
Read also: Perder es parte de competir
No gané, ah, entonces hubo fraude
UPDATED: Flores Reluctantly Concedes
May 03: Flores conceded today, but questioned the transparency of the elections. She thanked Xavier Barron for his efforts to as her legal advisor. She regretted the annulment of some returns and complained about the voter scrutiny, particularly the fact that once the votes are counted all that matters is the forms on which the results are recorded. She said that she is not certain that she lost in the ballot box but rather was eliminated in the voter scrutiny process in the voting booths.
May 04: Hemos añadido la cobertura de los medios de prensa escrita.
Second Round will be June 4
The President of the National Election Board (JNE), Javier Mendoza, announced in a press conference that the second round will be held on June 4 and that the race will be, as we all know, between UPP and APRA. The results are almost 100 percent in, and Mendoza indicated that nothing that happens in the next few hours in terms of legal decisions or vote scrutiny can alter the result.
According to Fernando Tuesta, in 2001 the JNE refused to set the date for the ballotage until after 100 percent of the votes were counted not only in the presidential but also in the legislative contest.