The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), although it is already integrated, cannot rule due to the doubts that the Public Ministry (MP) has regarding the 2023 elections. The presiding judge of the TSE, Blanca Alfaro, indicated that there is a protection that complicates them fix posture.
After the first round votes, a group of political parties managed to have the review hearings repeated by arguing alleged illegalities. The Constitutional Court (CC) gave them provisional protection, but there is no definitive ruling, which, according to Alfaro, keeps them detained to conclude the entire electoral process.
At the end of last year, the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (Feci) reported in a press conference that, in its opinion, the minutes of the electoral results were not valid. They sent a memorial to the TSE in search of a position, which the electoral president indicates is impossible for them to argue at this time due to provisional protection.
Without notifying
“At this time there is a protection that prevents us from opening the boxes, much less the extraction. There are more than 60 electoral boxes that have a tape that were subjected to, I imagine, an investigation by the MP,” explained the presiding judge.
Although the provisional protection has been in place for months, until now a definitive ruling has not been notified. Therefore, it is impossible, at the discretion of the electoral authorities, to respond with arguments to the questions that the Feci makes regarding the electoral results.
“The majority that brings the letter from Judge Orellana as well as from Feci asks that we review the affiliations of Semilla, verify the status of the deceased, but if we cannot extract the registers we cannot do it, there is an impossibility in the matter,” he indicated.
The thesis that the MP handles is that there might have been an alteration in the electoral results, by maintaining doubts regarding the way in which the transmission system operated. The investigating entity also doubts the origin of the Semilla Movement, a suspended political party that won the presidential elections in the second round.
Other problems
The presiding judge of the TSE indicated that in addition to not being able to establish a position due to the Feci investigations, they have other problems. Alfaro added that they cannot conclude the electoral report and purify the electoral roll either.
“When an election ends, the Electoral Directorate extracts from all the boxes the registers that were used to cast the vote and begins with the purification, to know how many voted and how many did not vote,” Alfaro explained.
But this management that is normal within the TSE is impossible to do, because they cannot access some electoral boxes. Situation simulate what happens with the electoral memory that can be concluded.
To date, the presiding judge of the TSE has accumulated 14 pretrial requests.
Without matter
For lawyer Francisco Quezada, from the National Economic Research Center (Cien), the action would no longer have a reason to exist, because it fulfilled its mission. Repeat the review hearings following the first round votes.
“This protection has not been resolved, in short, but in the previous aspects they practically resolved in advance because in the provisional aspect of the protection they practically exhausted the protection,” he explained.
For him, purging the registry and not finishing the electoral report on time would represent a problem. Furthermore, he is of the opinion that the TSE should not establish a position regarding the MP’s accusations either.
“I believe that the TSE should not establish an institutional position regarding what the MP determined. In the end, the position of the TSE is to present the results, it is not regarding ruling out every time an institution doubts the results,” he indicated.
Lacks firmness
With a completely opposite point of view is the independent analyst, Alejandro Quinteros. He declared that the TSE must frontally defend the results that are questioned by the MP, especially now that they are once once more integrated.
“Not being able to access some boxes does not mean that these processes cannot be carried out because the elections had already concluded when the Feci carried out these investigations,” he said.
For the independent analyst, the TSE needs to demonstrate more strength in its positions. This despite the fact that four of its titular magistrates are practically fugitives due to a criminal investigation.
“The results have already been given, they have already been defended and there have been various positions. If they were already presented at the time, I don’t see why they mightn’t be presented now. I believe that the TSE is giving too much thought to this matter,” he stated.
The investigation once morest the TSE magistrates focuses on an apparent overvaluation of the computer system used in the elections. File that already has a judge, but at the moment any progress is unknown.
The titular magistrates presented a memorial before an arrest warrant was issued once morest them, they asked to be allowed to present it voluntarily. But these requests, despite the fact that there is a new judge, have not been resolved.
Came advances
Now the TSE is already on its way to the Electoral Update and Modernization Commission (Came). Last Thursday, the reception of proposals was concluded, the majority from civil society groups, the minority from political parties.
Now from March 11 to 22 consultation tables will be held. To delve deeper into the proposals received.
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