The PLD in a press conference yesterday requested that the voter lists be provided to the parties prior to the election so that they may be assured these lists match the one in the possession of the JCE. ?With the corresponding verifications it would be proven that there will not be any irregularities concerning the list on election day and that the list that is in each polling station is the same one that has been given to the parties and the Organization of American States,? said Reinaldo Pared Perez, the PLD delegate to the JCE. The PLD has requested an explanation from the director of the JCE?s informatics department, Miguel Angel Garcia, who was present during the attempt to print the new list. Pared Perez says the explanations forthcoming from the JCE are contradictory.
Referring to the matter, President Hipolito Mejia downplayed the matter, saying, ?A fuss has been made about the request of the voting list, which is something that everyone gets.? As reported in Hoy newspaper, the President, who is running for re-election, said it was decided that the printing would be done at midnight because the JCE?s computer center said this could not be done during normal business hours.
Hoy newspaper?s editorial states today that the incident comes at a time when five of the nine JCE judges have requested an audit of all pending material to be sent to the municipal boards, after several bundles were found to be incomplete. The documents appear to be missing despite a bar-code reader that said they were complete. Additionally, the editorial forecasts that the abstention rate in this election will be the lowest in recent memory.