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ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION PERUVIAN GENERAL ELECTIONS 2000

Translation from Spanish

Bulletin No.5

 

The Electoral Observation Mission (hereafter the Mission) is concerned that the content of its fourth Bulletin may have led to inexact interpretations of the electoral observation’s work to date. Absent a careful reading of our text, this could have resulted in the erroneous conclusion that the Mission has renounced the impartiality of its observation duties.

Viability cannot be mistaken for legitimacy. The Mission has not legitimized in advance a process that has not yet concluded. The Mission has maintained and maintains a critical observation of the serious obstacles and irregularities occurring during the period leading up to the elections. However, the Mission cannot and should not stand in the way of the citizens and political parties who will go to the ballot box on April 9 and have the opportunity to express their political preferences.

The candidates and their political supporters continue their campaigns. The Peruvian people want to cast their ballots. Therefore, this voting process is still viable and must be protected by citizens through the free exercise of their right to vote. The political parties must also protect the process through vigilance and supervision to prevent the threats and risks of alterations that they themselves have reported.

Only the Peruvian people have the final verdict on what will happen, as well as on how the results are accepted. But given the grave limitations, imbalances and irregularities of the pre-electoral stage and the repeated sounds of alarm and reports of a possible massive fraud in these elections, a fatalistic feeling has developed which works against the voter’s very rights.

This is why it is so critical for representatives of the political parties to be vigilant at the voting tables. To the extent that they assume their full responsibility of ensuring that their representatives witness each and every stage of the electoral process and of the official vote count, only the political parties and groups participating in these elections will ensure the rights of the Peruvian people to freely choose their destiny in these elections. This is the only real guarantee, given the fears and accusations, that the votes of the citizens will be respected and that the official count will be transparent. This is the only valid path to take so that the Peruvian people can make this election legitimate and so that the international community can recognize the results.

The international observation will do everything possible to contribute to this effort, but given the national and international climate of suspicion, without the vigilance of the political parties’ representatives, all Peruvian people will lose the elections.

 

Today the Electoral Observation Mission puts forth the following matters:

1. In light of the announcement that the judicial resolution ordering the seizure of assets of the press where the newspaper Liberaci�n is printed will be carried out on Friday, April 7, the Mission views with concern the closing of a news media establishment precisely when the electoral campaign is coming to a conclusion, even though the closing results from a civil action to resolve a conflict of interest between private parties and to protect their legitimate rights. This action would cloud and contradict the progress achieved in recent days regarding the access that the presidential candidates have to broadcast television, and would represent a setback that would aggravate the limitations on free access to the media already observed during this electoral campaign.
2. Likewise, regarding the Public Ministry’s investigation into the alleged fraudulent voter registrations of the National Independent Front Peru 2000 (Frente Nacional Independiente Per� 2000), the mission reiterates that it considers absolutely inadequate the action taken by the district attorney’s office to present the results of this investigation to the public within the framework of electoral calendar. In regard to the administrative investigation, as the entity in charge of supervising the electoral process, the National Board of Elections (Jurado Nacional de Elecciones) should present an overview of responsibilities regarding the performance of ONPE (National Office of Electoral Process) in this case. This would help the general public to have sufficient facts that would help them judge the quality of the ONPE as an institution.
3. The Mission has been clear in pointing out that ONPE has demonstrated significant technical advances when compared to other electoral systems in the

hemisphere. However, these advances are not reflected in the managerial decisions, which should give credibility to the entity in charge of organizing and carrying out elections. Therefore, the Mission requests the ONPE to:

• Present a detailed account of the chronology of the ballot count that will allow citizens to have a clear picture of the times and the forms in which the official results will become public for the April 9 elections. This applies particularly to the counting of the preferential vote.
• Make public an inventory of the electoral materials that will be used on election day and security plans for their storage; and
• Issue all measures that fully guarantee that the the ODPEs can carry out their work free of pressure.

The Mission is particularly concerned about the case of the ODPE in Cachapoyas, whose incumbent presented her resignation due to irregularities detected in how this important office was functioning. These irregularities where reported by the newspapers "La Republica" and "Gestion" in today's editions. This situation could be symptomatic of a broader picture that could compromise the security of the electoral process.

1. In accordance with what the Mission observed at the end of the electoral simulation exercise that took place last Sunday, April 2, and based on the experience of the general elections of 1995, the Mission warns that to this date there is a state of confusion between the players in the electoral process regarding the norms that govern the nullification of electoral certificates. Therefore, the Mission invites the National Board of Elections to express itself with absolute clarity on how the Special Electoral Boards (Jurados Electorales Especiales) and the National Board of Elections should apply these norms to resolve these cases. It is important to ensure that the coordinators of the voting centers designated by the ONPE and the Special Electoral Boards understand this matter clearly as well as the issue related to voter identity cards, so they can provide support to those working at the polls.
2. The Mission will present its sixth information bulletin with an overview of the pre-electoral phase on Friday afternoon, April 7.

Lima, April 5, 2000