Electoral Regime Law 15-19 establishes that the Attorney General is responsible for naming a Special Prosecutor for Electoral Affairs. With less than a month for the 16 February 2020 election, this relevant electoral officer has not been named.
Attorney General Office says that electoral crimes committed by militants and political leaders during the next election will be investigated and brought to justice by the prosecutors of each jurisdiction. A group of career prosecutors from different regions of the country has been receiving training to receive eventual complaints and formal charges to investigate the cases.
Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) politician and former member of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Eddy Olivares expressed his skepticism about the independence of action that prosecutors may have in electoral matters. According to his considerations, since the Attorney General Office will govern the investigations, these could lack the independence and the needed autonomy necessary to prosecute electoral crimes and offenses outside the interest of the governing party. In 2019, the Attorney General Office carried out a controversial overhaul of prosecutors nationwide, removing many career officers.
Last week, a mission from the Inter-American Union of Electoral Bodies (Uniore) recommended actions to eliminate voting card purchases, strengthen the training of the staff at the voting stations, and appoint the electoral prosecutor.
During a speech last week, the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Román Jáquez, said that the system must be prepared so that electoral crimes do not go unpunished.
Several civic organizations have requested that the Attorney General appoint the electoral crime officer.
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Somos Pueblo
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El Nuevo Diario
23 January 2020