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OAS TO SUPPORT ELECTORAL REGISTRY AUDIT IN EL SALVADOR

The Organization of American States (OAS) today signed an agreement with the government of El Salvador to provide support in carrying out a full audit of the electoral registry prior to that country’s 2009 presidential and legislative elections.

The OAS Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs, Dante Caputo, and the President of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador, Walter René Araujo, signed the agreement at OAS headquarters. The accord will establish a regulating framework for a Technical Assistance Program which will help strengthen electoral registry mechanisms and promote democratic participation by improving the information provided to citizens.

Caputo underscored the capacity and track record of the OAS in electoral matters, noting that in this regard it is one of the most advanced organizations in the region. He emphasized that monitoring elections goes beyond the vote itself; besides establishing whether the election was free, fair and transparent, other important elements must be taken into consideration as part of the entire preparation process, such as the voter list and financing issues.

In thanking the Salvadoran government for the confidence it had placed in the OAS, Caputo stressed that the electoral registry is a key element in any democracy. “The OAS has collaborated with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador for over ten years, both in providing advisory support and technical assistance as well as in sending several electoral observation missions. The last one was sent last year for the municipal elections,” Caputo said.

Representing the government of El Salvador, Araujo thanked the OAS for its continuous support. “We know that this audit will mark a new milestone in the history of the Organization’s relations with entities and electoral institutions in Latin America,” he said. This process, he added, indicates a continued trust placed in the OAS “not only by the Supreme Tribunal of El Salvador, but by Salvadoran society as a whole.”

“Salvadoran democracy should and must be the ultimate end; that is to say that it is the citizens, within the basic regulations and norms, who make the decisions that will guide the destiny of the country. The OAS has supported the democratic process in El Salvador for over a decade. We believe the full audit of the electoral registry will mark a historic step in this relation of cooperation among the countries of the Americas,” he concluded.

Among those who participated in the ceremony were Ambassador Abigaíl Castro de Pérez, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the OAS; Elizabeth Spehar, Director of the OAS Department for the Promotion of Democracy; and the Salvadoran Electoral Tribunal Magistrates Silvia Cartagena, Julio Moreno Niño and Eduardo Urquilla.

Reference: E-041/07