Despite the extreme urgency of the project for its processing, the Government, Decentralization and Regionalization commission of the Senate, agreed to establish a technical table – during the regional week – to address the message that seeks to perfect the electoral system and hold municipal elections. and regional events of the year 2024 in two days.
This is because during the sessions that have been held, a series of doubts have arisen regarding the project, from the hand of exhibitors and the members of the commission themselves. Among others, legislation was urged to give legal continuity to compulsory voting; end non-waivable holidays; postpone what refers to the financing of political parties; and clear up doubts regarding the deployment of the Armed Forces.
The text has urgency, becauseIt will be shipped no later than the end of June, because it has a preventive control process.
During the last session, the president of the commission, Senator Manuel José Ossandón (RN), proposed “an alternative solution” to the message, so that the elections might be held in 2 days, but not consecutively, because – in his opinion – public opinion public rejects that it be a double shift. Thus, the legislator proposed that the election be on October 27, as planned, and on November 24, when the second round of governors is scheduled.
Meanwhile, Senator Luz Ebensperger (UDI) reiterated that she has apprehensions regarding the project that “fails to convince me”; while Senator Paulina Vodanovic (PS) acknowledged that the text can be perfected, but urged that “the commission not become a sieve and let us not let it lead to democratic debate.”
Different visions
At the local level, there is no single position among the senators for Ñuble.
“The most favorable thing for the almost 13 million voters is that the election be held in 2 days. According to the Servel report, it is the best option, in addition, the Armed Forces. They guarantee the security of the votes, and this process has already started with the registration of the pacts for the primaries,” said PPD senator, Loreto Carvajal.
The legislator maintained that “democratic elections must give voters security regarding their vote, and the best mechanism in this case is for the vote to be held on October 26 and 27,” she asserted.
In the UDI, meanwhile, the option remains only one day.
“We are in favor of voting being carried out in a single day, and we have proposed that one possibility is to be able to double the number of tables, understanding that today we have mandatory voting, and therefore, the number of voters increases considerably, and which are also four voting ballots, two of which have a large number of names, such as councilors and also regional councillors. Understanding that the time to vote, as calculated by Servel, doubles, that is why we propose the possibility of also doubling the number of tables to make the voting process more expeditious, and in this way, allow carried out in a single day,” said Senator Gustavo Sanhueza.
He added that “these are issues that are being discussed today in the Government commission, and where there is still no clarity in the different political sectors regarding what the final position will be. We are collecting background information, reading studies to be able to make a decision that is conscientious and that is the best for the electoral process that is going to be experienced,” said the legislator from Ñuble.
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