Media Center

Press Release

Reports on Electoral Day in Ecuador

Following an invitation by the electoral authorities in Ecuador, the Organization of American States (OAS) deployed an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) of 18 experts and observers from 10 Member States and Spain. The Mission was installed on April 19 with the goal of observing the Referendum and Popular Consultation of May 7. During his stay in the host country, Chief of Mission Enrique Correa met with electoral and national authorities, followers of different parties and representatives of civil society organizations and the media.

General Observations

The Mission wishes to highlight that improvements have been noted to the administration of the electoral process with regard to the last observed elections. In this regard it is worth noting the work carried out by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on the transparent and appropriate publication of early results, and on the re-engineering of information technology to support the recounting process.

During its meetings with different political parties, the Mission collected complaints and challenges regarding the campaign. On the designation as a political subject of the Nation’s President, Rafael Correa Delgado, the Mission confirmed that such a designation is specified in Ecuadorian legislation. Nevertheless, the Mission considers the benefits of such a designation are to be applied to the President, and not to other bodies and entities of the Presidency.

The EOM/OAS transferred these and other concerns to the appropriate electoral authorities and expects a prompt resolution on them. Regarding complaints, the Mission wishes to stress the importance of them being formally submitted to the appropriate institutions for them to be duly processed, followed upon and resolved. The Mission highlights that it is important for political and social stakeholders to use the institutional channels to strengthen the confidence on the democratic system.

Election Day

On Election Day, the OAS international observers were deployed in 10 provinces and visited 178 poll sites. Once the polls were closed, they observed the work carried out in the Intermediate Boards and Provincial Delegations. The Mission’s experts followed closely the activities at the CNE’s Recount Center.

The Mission wishes to remark that the CNE guaranteed good conditions for the installation of the Voting Reception Boards (JRVs), which allowed them to open without major delays. Nevertheless, in a significant amount of JRVs the screens were not properly set up to protect the secret ballot. Lack of access for people with disabilities was also observed, in particular because many JRVs were located on the first floor of buildings.

Despite the important efforts made by the CNE to educate citizens on where and how to vote, with public announcements in several mass media starting March 25, the Mission noted that a great amount of voters had difficulties finding the correct JRV.

The Mission also confirmed with concern the important lack of training of JRV members, as shown in the insufficient knowledge of the recounting mechanisms and the recurrent problems filling out voting records. This weakness was evident because most of the voting records contain numerical inconsistencies and must be reviewed by the Provincial Recounting Boards.

The Mission observed a small presence of delegates from political parties at voting polls and during the vote recount. In this sense, the Mission wishes to highlight the overseeing role that they, and only they, can play, as well as the importance of their contributions towards a trustworthy electoral process.

Recommendations

With the goal of strengthening institutions and electoral processes, the OAS Mission submits the following recommendations based on its observations while in Ecuador:

- Strengthening the mechanisms for overseeing campaign financing.

The Mission observes with satisfaction that, as a result of a recommendation submitted after the 2008 Constitutional Referendum, the Assembly legislated on the limits of the use of resources in campaigns. However, it considers that loopholes still exist in the law, particularly in those issues related to the political subject. As mentioned in the 2009 EOM’s final report, the OAS reiterates the need to strengthen the “mechanisms overseeing the financing of political campaigns and the use of State resources, which require a more systematic approach, a higher compliance rate of electoral legislation and a superior ability to sanction. At the same time, the Mission recommends creating mechanisms to promote and guarantee more transparent action by political parties and their candidates when managing campaign resources.”

- Guaranteeing political delegates access to the electoral process

The Mission stresses the fundamental role played by political parties and movements in the Ecuadorian electoral democracy. While defending their collective rights, delegates from political parties help create a transparent and respectful atmosphere. In this regard, the Mission calls upon the authorities to guarantee access for delegates from political parties to all stages of the electoral process. Furthermore, the Mission considers all delegates must be committed to their role of overseeing the process using the resources established by law to submit their complaints.

- Re-designing voting records and the recounting process

The recounting procedures were complex, which contributed to many records having to be reviewed and to the slow transmission of results. Furthermore, the records’ format could generate problems considering that the authorities’ signatures are only contained in the document’s last page. The Mission recommends reviewing the procedures established for recounting votes and the design of the records.

- Strengthening training of JRV members

The lack of knowledge by members of JRVs regarding procedures during Election Day shows a certain degree of inefficiency in the efforts displayed by the National Electoral Council to convene and train citizens to fulfill their duties. It is important that authorities intensify their efforts in future electoral processes.

The OAS Electoral Observation Mission will continue to pay attention to the process until the final results are announced, and calls particularly upon the political parties and, in general, the citizenry, to await final results with respect and tolerance. Once the electoral process is finished, the Mission will submit a report to the Organization’s Permanent Council.

Reference: E-659/11