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Background

ELECTORAL OBSERVATION MISSION OF THE OAS
PRESENTS PRELIMINARY REPORT

The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) deployed 126 observers throughout the territory of Peru. Based on reports from observers stationed in 17 different Departments, the Mission can attest that Sunday’s general election was conducted effectively and with integrity. In the judgment of the OAS Mission, the election process merits a strongly positive evaluation.

At the same time, it is important to recognize that while the voting has ended, the scrutiny of ballots continues. This phase of the election may take some time, and the Mission encourages all parties concerned—the candidates and their supporters—to be patient as the votes are counted and the official results published.

The OAS Mission will remain in Peru during the vote scrutiny and through the second round of the presidential election, and it will continue to observe the process in all its stages.

The Mission wishes to highlight and emphasize the many positive aspects of this electoral process:

○ The enthusiasm with which voters turned out to vote, and the orderly and dignified way in which most voters cast their ballots.

○ The participation of members of the police and armed forces who voted for the first time in this election.

○ The security of the computer system used to collect and compute votes.

○ The equanimity with which the candidates responded to the first official results. These results have yet to determine which candidate will place second and hence qualify for the second round in the presidential election.

○ The normal unfolding of the electoral process in spite of isolated events in certain parts of the country.

The mandate of the Mission includes making recommendations for strengthening and consolidating democracy in Peru. In this respect, the Mission will note in its final report:

○ There is a need for better regulation of the use of public opinion polls in the week prior to the election, which is prohibited by law. Poll results are widely disseminated and easily available from the Internet and foreign sources. This creates two tiers of access to information.

○ There is a need for greater respect for the mandatory period of silence from the parties and candidates once the campaign has ended. This was breached on a number of occasions.

○ The mass media should not interfere with the normal unfolding of the election. Access to polls should be strictly limited to voters and authorized personnel.

○ Security measures should be reinforced to ensure the physical integrity of candidates at polling stations.

○ Disabled voters need accessible voting booths.

○ There should be improved practices in the organization of polling areas, especially with respect to information on the location of polling booths.

○ Election authorities should work together to ensure a more streamlined process for voting, with an emphasis on better training for officials at voting booths.

○ A longer term goal world be to create a more inclusive democratic system in which those Peruvian citizens without legal identity, or who are unable to vote for other reasons, are brought into the electoral process.

Reference: EOM-PE-04