Ministry of Defense confirms that they would not be able to print the ballots of Andean parliamentarians for the elections of 7 February

Ministry of Defense confirms that they would not be able to print the ballots of Andean parliamentarians for the elections of 7 February

28 January 2021
CE Noticias Financieras
NFINCE

The Military Geographical Institute (IGM) will not be able to print ballots with candidates for the Andean Parliament, as confirmed by the Minister of Defense, Oswaldo Jarrín.

Jarrín stated at a press conference on 28 January that the IGM will not be able to print the ballots of Andean parliamentarians and that this will be pending for the second round of elections, ‘if any’.

This is because the Social Justice political movement is in disputes over the registration of candidates for this position, as it seeks more days for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to give it more days to choose its applicants.

At midnight today, the deadline for this political organization to file contentious appeals to the Electoral Litigation Tribunal (ECA) is due, objecting to the CNE’s decision not to give it more days to elect candidates.

The electoral management body gave it a day to do so, in compliance with an ECA judgment which provided for the movement to be guaranteed participation in the national elections of 7 February, when the President and Vice-President of the Republic, national, provincial, foreign assemblymen, will be elected; and, Andean parliamentarians.

If, tonight, Social Justice does not appeal this decision, the Council shall provide for the printing of the ballot, otherwise this election would be pending, since all legal remedies in the ECA must be resolved before printing the documents.

In any case, the CNE arranged for the sending of election material – albeit without the ballots of parliamentarians – to the three constituencies abroad and to the electoral stations located in distant places, such as in the Amazon and the Galapagos.

But the defense minister also claimed that a debt of $3,565 is pending, including $486 to cover logistical expenses to the Armed Forces, who are responsible for the security and transfer to the provinces of electoral material.

That debt was reported to be covered last January 26, as far as the first round was due. “I have spoken to the Minister of Finance (Mauricio Pozo) and we cannot make an addition to the addendum, no longer. And as we are days (from the elections), there is no certification to make the payments that correspond to the contracts of logistics services. For the contract we have to give an advance, and we don’t have. It’s the problem we’re experiencing in relation to the electing process,” he blamed.

Regarding the destruction of presidential binomial ballots that reported an error in identifying the Friend movement logo, in which he was mentioned on the ballot as Best Ec, Jarrín asserted that they do not know when they will be destroyed, but that the Armed Forces will treat the material with appropriate security.

“We will opt for the legal mechanisms for the CNE, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, political parties… so that with IGM supervision it goes on to destruction (the ballots), when, we don’t know. But the process has to be followed and security is up to the Armed Forces,” he said. (I)

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