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OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Bolivia Says Judicial Elections "Strengthened Will to Build a State with Higher Levels of Inclusion"

The Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) that observed the elections of judicial authorities in Bolivia last November today presented its verbal report, congratulating the Bolivian people on their high participation and recognizing that "the elections guaranteed the multinational and gender composition of the future members of the justice system, and cemented the desire to build a state with higher levels of inclusion.”

While thanking the Mission for the report, the Secretary General of the OAS, José Miguel Insulza, noted that the report—together with those on the elections in Guyana and Jamaica, also presented during today’s session—comes within days of the 50th anniversary of the first OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) that observed the elections of February 4, 1962, in Costa Rica. To commemorate the event, the head of the OAS expressed the desire of the Organization to be invited to observe all of the elections held in 2012 in the Hemisphere. Elections occurring in the hemisphere this year include those in the United States, Venezuela and Mexico.

Secretary General Insulza also congratulated the Bolivian authorities and people for the development of this unprecedented election, describing it as "a fundamental task that we hope will bear fruit on the development of a very good judicial system in Bolivia."

The report on the November 16 elections was presented to the OAS Permanent Council by the Deputy Chief of the EOM, Betilde Muñoz-Pogossian, on behalf of the head of the EOM, former Panamanian President Martin Torrijos. The Mission began operations on June 30, 2011, and concluded days after the election of senior officials of the judiciary and the Constitutional Tribunal of Bolivia.

As the report on Bolivia explains, the EOM divided its recommendations into two parts. Regarding the pre-selection of candidates, the report suggests extending the period available for Legislative Assembly to convene and evaluate the credentials of applicants; creating a quantitative evaluation mechanism; and improving methods to inform voters about candidates.

Regarding the voting process, the Mission considers it appropriate to deploy a greater number of electoral staff; to provide information to disabled voters on the reasons for their exclusion and on how to contest it; to strengthen the training of election officials; and to increase instruction of citizens on how to exercise their right to witness the recount.

"The Mission would like to again congratulate the Bolivian people for their participation, and recognizes their effort to improve their justice system," said Muñoz-Pogossian, who recalled that "it was the first time that an election of this kind took place in Bolivia and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.”

"It is indeed commendable that the Bolivian people searched for innovative mechanisms to address issues of justice in their country, which can be replicated in other countries in the region," added the Deputy Chief of Mission, who highlighted the "high participation of citizens expressed in the polls” and the "exercise of social control during the period of scrutiny.”

The EOM was supported by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, South Korea, Norway and Switzerland, and was composed of 20 experts and international observers from 10 Observer and Member states.

During the mission in Bolivia, observers were present in all nine of the country’s departments and met with local election officials, police, and members of civil society organizations, as well as judges of the supreme electoral tribunal, members of the diplomatic corps and government officials.

The Permanent Representative of Bolivia to the OAS, Diego Pary, thanked the EOM and in general the Organization "for your support of my country.” He asserted that the recommendations will be forwarded to the electoral authorities to improve future processes.

The Bolivian diplomat said that the November elections are part of the process initiated in 2006 by his government to "redirect the path of history, building a more united country and ultimately more inclusive." "This important process made ​​visible important sectors that in the past were excluded from the administration of justice, such as women and indigenous people," he added.

Also, during the regular session of the permanent council the delegations of Venezuela and Suriname (on behalf of CARICOM) took the floor, congratulating Bolivia on their elections and the EOM for its work.

The Full Report of the EOM is available here.

A gallery of photos of the event is available here.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-052/12