The civic watchdog movement Citizen Participación (PC) said that the Central Electoral Board (JCE) needs to say whether the same equipment used in the 6 October primaries will be used in the February and May 2020 elections, observed Francisco Alvarez, speaking for the movement. He said that the JCE should respond to the challenges made by former President Leonel Fernandez to the results of the vote count by showing concrete proofs. He said that is the only way to deliver credibility to the use of the equipment.
In an interview with El Día, Alvarez said that the JCE should particularly investigate the vote in the southern provinces and issue a detailed report on what happened there, in addition to the forensic technical audit that the JCE says it will now undertake.
Alvarez said in the interview that the JCE needs to address issues of equality, transparency in the use of taxpayer money to fund the parties and the role of the electoral police.
During the interview, Heiromy Castro, coordinator for Participación Ciudadana, said that the organization had repeatedly requested an audit of the electronic devices that was to be used in the primaries.
Participación Ciudadana says their requests were practically ignored. In February 2019, the JCE had issued a resolution accepting to carry out the audit, but this did not occur. Instead, days before the primary, the JCE requested remarks from university IT departments.
Carlos Pimentel, director of Participación Ciudadana, spoke of the challenges to issue the regulations for new recent laws on political parties and electoral regime and to guarantee levels of fulfillment of these. He said of these the ruling for control and checks has been approved and now needs to be applied.
Miriam Diaz, board member of the civic watchdog, said the results of the application of Political Parties Law 33-18 were disappointing in regards to the unrestrained use government and private resources to gain votes. “Is the country going to allow a repeat of what happened in the primary in the national elections?” she asks.
Francisco Alvarez concluded the JCE should never have directed the primary election and instead should just have served as arbiter.
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El Dia
17 October 2019