Judge Ramón Arístides Madera Arias of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) blasted the performance of the president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) in the organization and follow up of the 6 October 2019 primaries. In a dissident vote to the TSE decision to publish the results of the primary, Madera Arias affirmed that “carelessness, irresponsibility, stubbornness, lack of prudence, non-compliance with the law and lack of transparency” in the actions of the JCE president was the cause for the disruptions in the order of the primary held on Sunday, 6 October 2019. His dissident vote came in response to the request filed by former President Leonel Fernández of a motion to prevent the JCE from making the results official and declaring Gonzalo Castillo the winner of the PLD primary.
Arias stated the actions of JCE president Julio César Castaños Guzmán caused all sectors to lose out”. “Therefore, there are irreparable damages due to the lack of transparency, lack of balance and equanimity on the part of the president of the JCE, which could have been avoided if the organization had complied with its legal and moral obligation to the country,” said the TSE judge. He criticized the lack of timely auditing of the automated voting system, the refusal to do a back up manual count of all votes, the refusal to respond to the proposals made by the civic watchdog group Citizen Participation, among other actions that could have avoided critical situations beforehand.
“It is not our intention to affect particular or group interests, or offend anyone, we are only moved by the desire that all things be done correctly, regardless of the consequences, because it is necessary to place national interests over individual ones,” concluded magistrate Madera Arias.
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N Digital
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
21 October 2019