Journalist Pilar Moreno, from the El Nacional newspaper, writes that the Central Electoral Board (JCE) would be committing a flagrant violation of the Constitution if the body increases by 15 the number of City Council members eligible to stand for election in 2016. Language in Law 341 n 09 that covers the makeup of the municipal councils, stipulates that the size of the municipal councils be frozen at current levels until 2040.
Moreno says that according to the program of the electoral agency, in the May 2016 elections, 1,164 City Council members are to be elected in 158 different municipalities, which is an increase from the 1,149 elected in the 2010 elections. Specifically, paragraph III of article 35 of Law 341-09 establishes that “the number of City Council members elected in the 2010 elections will remain frozen for a period of 30 years.”
According to the journalist, and an official document from the JCE, to which the El Nacional had access, that was drafted based on Law 341-09, the election agency reassigns the number of Council members and points out that municipalities with as many as 25,000 inhabitants are supposed to have five city Council members. Likewise, according to the content of the document, municipalities that have from 25,000 to 50,000 inhabitants should have seven Council members. Nine council members are to be seated for those cities with populations between 75,000 and 100,000 inhabitants. The municipalities which have more than 100,000 inhabitants should have one councilmember for each 50,000 residents or a fraction greater than 25,000 residents.
Paragraph I of Law 341-09 indicates that “if as a consequence of the application of these criteria it turns out that the total number of Council members were even, they will be increased by one more.” Paragraph II points out that “in the municipalities affected by the reduction of the number of city Council members as a consequence of the application of this law, they would choose the same number of Council members that were elected in the 2006 elections.”
The reporter notes that while the JCE recognizes that Law 341-09 freezes the number of Council members for 30 years, it has carried out the calculation of Council members to be elected in the 2016 elections based on Law 176-07, something which she says is a flagrant violation of the law. Law 176-07 establishes, for example that, the municipality of Santiago de los Caballeros will elect a councilmember for each 17,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 9,000 and not for each 50,000 or fraction greater than 25,000 as established by current legislation.