Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay 1998On August 19, 1997, the Government of Paraguay,...

Subject to Revision and not for Release to General Public Pending Consideration by Permanent Council.

Electoral Observation Mission in

Paraguay

1998

Unit for the Promotion of Democracy General Secretariat

Organization of American States


Table of Contents Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 4 PART I General Context of the Electoral Observation Mission ............................................................ 8 1. Background information on Paraguay....................................................................................... 9 PART II The Electoral Observation Mission.......................................................................................... 11 1. Origin and mandate of the Mission.......................................................................................... 12 2. Start and functioning of the Mission........................................................................................ 14 PART III Institutional Framework............................................................................................................. 16 1. Electoral Justice System......................................................................................................... 17 2. Political parties....................................................................................................................... 19 3. The Press .............................................................................................................................. 21 4. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)............................................................................... 23 5. The Catholic church............................................................................................................... 24 6. International actors................................................................................................................. 24 PART IV Activities of the Electoral Observation Mission ...................................................................... 26 1. Office of the Electoral Observation Mission............................................................................ 27 2. Regional Offices..................................................................................................................... 28 3. The visit by the OAS Secretary General ................................................................................. 29 PART V Political and Electoral Matters .................................................................................................. 30 1. Registration and disqualification of candidates......................................................................... 31 2. Electoral campaign financing................................................................................................... 33


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PART VI Pre-electoral Phase .................................................................................................................... 35 1. General framework................................................................................................................ 36 2. Electoral logistics ................................................................................................................... 38 3. Observation of campaign activities.......................................................................................... 41 4. Transmission of preliminary electoral results............................................................................ 41 PART VII Election day ................................................................................................................................ 43 1. Qualitative and quantitative observation.................................................................................. 44 2. Election day........................................................................................................................... 46 3. Vote counting ........................................................................................................................ 50 4. Rapid transmission of preliminary results................................................................................. 51 5. Delivery and receipt of electoral material................................................................................. 51 PART VIII Post-electoral Phase................................................................................................................... 52 1. The calculation of results by the electoral tribunal.................................................................... 53 2. Receipt of results by the TSJE................................................................................................ 54 3. Protests ................................................................................................................................. 54 4. Calculation of results by the TSJE........................................................................................... 55 5. Announcement of candidates.................................................................................................. 56 PART IX Analysis of the results................................................................................................................ 57 1. Quick count results ................................................................................................................ 58 2. Reaction to the results ............................................................................................................ 59 PART X Complaints .................................................................................................................................. 60 1. Legal framework.................................................................................................................... 61 2. Pre-electoral phase................................................................................................................ 61 3. Election day........................................................................................................................... 63 4. Post-electoral period.............................................................................................................. 63


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PART XI Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................................... 64 PART XII Annexes ...................................................................................................................................... 68 I. Letter of invitation and response from the Secretary General II. Press communiqué III. Budget IV. Message from the Bishops of Paraguay V. Election Timeline VI. National Summary of the Voters List VII. Electoral observation forms VIII . List of observers IX Flowchart X. Results XI. Table of complaints and protests


Executive Summary On August 19, 1997, the Government of Paraguay, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rubén Melgarejo Lanzoni, extended an invitation to the Secretary General of the Organization, Dr. César Gaviria, to send an Electoral Observation Mission for the general elections to be held on May 10, 1998 in that country. In that regard, by means of a note of October 31, 1997, the Secretary General confirmed that an Electoral Observation Mission would be sent to cover all the phases of the process. Later, the Secretary General appointed Dr. José Luis Chea Urruela as Chief of Mission (Annex I, Letter of invitation and response from the Secretary General). The OAS Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) began its activities in Paraguay on March 1, 1998, establishing its central office in the capital (Asunción) and gradually opening seven regional offices in Concepción, Pedro Juan Caballero, Ciudad del Este, Coronel Oviedo, Encarnación, San Juan Baptista, and Asunción. The number of observers grew gradually to 60 on election day. In order to enhance the quality of the observation process and increase, quantitatively, its technical capacity with a view to quick count, assistance was provided by 32 volunteers on election day, who came from the foreign diplomatic corps accredited to Paraguay and from international organizations. Pre-electoral activities of the EOM consisted essentially of the establishment of contact with representatives at the Office of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of Foreign Relations, members of the High Court of the Electoral Justice System (TSJE), the Supreme Court, the Senate, the Chamber of Deputies, and representatives of political parties, the national press, diplomatic missions accredited to the country, churches, national and international non-governmental organizations such as the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and the Center for Electoral Advisory and Promotional Matters (CAPEL). The electoral campaign was also monitored through the observation of campaign activities, civic education activities, the distribution of electoral material, the preparation of electoral training courses, and logistical preparation for the electoral process. The EOM noted that the electoral campaign took place in an orderly fashion although it started late, and the climate was marked by rumors and uncertainty. Against this backdrop and despite the low intensity of the electoral campaign, it is important to stress that the absence of violence, the climate of security, and observance of basic rights and guarantees, such as freedom of the press, and the right to organization, assembly, and expression, were important factors that contributed decisively to the smooth functioning of the electoral process. In this context, the most salient aspects of the electoral process during the stay of the EOM were the reliability of the voter list, the possibility of postponement of the elections, and the uncertainty surrounding the viability of the candidacy of Retired Div. General Lino Oviedo, who was representing the Colorado Party.


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Beyond the questions raised by politicians, there was no documented evidence that the voter list was not reliable. As a result, the very momentum of the electoral process overshadowed the reliability issue, until election day, when all the political parties agreed to participate based on the voter list circulated by the TSJE. Insofar as the issue of the postponement of elections is concerned, although at the beginning of the EOM, this topic appeared to be on the political/party agenda of some internal factions of the Colorado Party, this request was never officially made. Therefore, as the election date approached, the chance of postponement fell considerably, due, among other things, to the resolve of the TSJE, the opposition parties, and to the consent given by the presidential candidates of the two majority parties to hold the elections on the date scheduled in the electoral timetable. Finally, with regard to the viability of the candidacy of General Lino Oviedo, the Supreme Court, by means of a decision handed down on April 17, 1998, decided to uphold the decision of the special military tribunal11 sentencing General Oviedo to 10 years in prison. Based on this decision and existing electoral guidelines, on April 18, the TSJE disqualified General Oviedo as a presidential candidate and replaced him with Mr. Raúl Cubas Grau, in accordance with existing electoral guidelines. The first visit of the OAS Secretary General took place March 20-23, 1998. During this visit, all the political factions assured the Secretary General that they would uphold the decision handed down by the Supreme Court regarding the case of General Oviedo, something that would clearly determine the direction of the electoral process. Moreover, in keeping with a suggestion of the Secretary General, TSJE magistrates created a consultative mechanism to address the concerns of one of the political parties related to alleged inaccuracies of the voter list. Based on the decision of the Supreme Court and the disqualification of General Oviedo by the TSJE, the activities related to electoral observations focused on monitoring the final part of the electoral process. Therefore, the Chief of Mission, together with the assistant Chief, Mr. Steve Griner, visited all the regional offices in order to establish the same number of contacts and conduct the same number of visits as they did at the central office. From May 8-11, 1998, the OAS Secretary General again visited Paraguay for purposes of an on site verification not only of progress being made in the electoral process, but also the functioning of the May 10 elections. During this visit, the Secretary General met with the President of the Republic, TSJE magistrates, the President of the Supreme Court, and the four main aspirants to the positions of President and Vice President of the Republic, respectively. On election day, the Secretary General went to various polling stations, both in Asunción and in the rural areas of the Republic. On the night of May 10, a few hours after polling stations closed, the Secretary General read a press communiqué acknowledging the high level of civic conduct displayed by the citizens of Paraguay, who turned out in massive numbers to exercise their right to vote. In that communiqué, the EOM

1 Preliminary investigations involving Retired Div. Gen. Linos César Oviedo, Brig. Gen. (SR) Sindulfo Ruíz Ramírez, and DEM

Colonel (SR) José Manuel Bóbeda regarding alleged crimes against law and order and the security of the armed forces of the Nation and insubordination that took place April 22-23, 1996, in various military units of the Republic.


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expressed its appreciation for the assistance received from the Paraguayan Government, the TSJE, the political parties, and the local mass media. In reading the communiqué, the Secretary General stressed the role played by both the Supreme Court and TSJE in the smooth functioning of the electoral process as a whole. He also underscored the seriousness and professionalism of the TSJE and its ongoing effort to correct mistakes and problems throughout the process. Moreover, he indicated that both the Armed Forces and National Police conducted themselves in a commendable manner by providing assistance to the electoral justice system and guaranteeing the safety of citizens in a professional and non-partisan way (Annex II, Press communiqué). On election day, mission observers noted very few technical or electoral problems. The most common pertained to the late arrival of poll workers at stations, discrepancy between the identification numbers of voters and numbers appearing on the voter list, dissent related to the location of polling sites, the existence of fraudulent identification cards, and efforts to influence voting. It should be stressed that there were very few complaints relating to the lack of material and none relating to mistakes in the forwarding of this material.

Against this backdrop, it is important to stress that the only serious problem that arose was linked the transmission of provisional results due to technical problems with the computers at the TSJE Data Processing Center, which forced it to postpone the delivery of provisional results until the day after the election. This gave rise to some suspicion, although limited, since 24 hours after the polls closed, the Democratic Alliance candidate conceded victory by the Colorado Party. Another factor that should be mentioned is that after the elections, the delivery of electoral files was slow. On June 10, 1998, the TSJE announced the official results, announcing the candidates elected during the five elections. In the final results, the winner was the Colorado Party with 887,196 votes (55.35%) followed by the Democratic Alliance with 703,379 votes (43.88%) in the positions of President and Vice President of the Republic. With respect to legal matters, it should be pointed that electoral law was not challenged, with the exception of the article governing the staffing of polling stations. In this case, there was sharp disagreement by the contending political parties with the TSJE’s interpretation of this article. Finally, it is important to mention that despite the initial uncertainty, rumors about instability, criticisms of the voter list, and the possibility of postponement, none of these factors affected the basic guarantees of the political parties in terms of presenting their candidates and publicizing their respective government plans. Moreover, on election day, these factors did not affect the free expression of the political will of Paraguayan citizens, since they exercised their right to vote without any coercion or difficulty. The May 10, 1998 elections were the most complex in the modern political history of Paraguay, as a result of a series of internal factors that produced anxiety and uncertainty at the national and international levels. However, they were held freely and transparently, with a high level of citizen participation (one of the highest in the Hemisphere – 81%), which served to consolidate democracy not only in Paraguay, but also, the irreversible democratic trend in the Americas.


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In the final part of this report, a number of conclusions and recommendations are presented regarding the electoral process as a whole, with a view to providing information that may improve the functioning of this process in future elections.


PART I General Context of the

Electoral Observation Mission


1. Background information on Paraguay

In economic terms, Paraguay is one of the lesser developed countries, relatively speaking, within MEROCSUR, the biggest regional market in South America, to which Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay also belong, in addition to Chile and Bolivia, which are associated countries.

Paraguay is 406,752 square kilometers, with a population of almost 5 million according to

official 1996 figures. However, it is estimated that currently the population is probably close to 7 million.

Based on the 1996 census, the majority of the population is of mixed origin; that is, Spanish and

Guaraní. Only 3% of Paraguayans are Amerindian, and 1.7% are of German origin. It is the only bilingual country in Latin America. The official languages are Spanish and Guaraní (1992 Constitution). Although Spanish is used officially, most people living in the rural and suburban areas speak Guaraní. The most populous cities are: Asunción, the capital, with more than half a million inhabitants; Ciudad del Este, in the Department of Alto Paraná; Encarnación, in the Department of Itapuá; and the cities of San Lorenzo, Lambaré, and Fernando de la Mora, located in the Central Department, whose populations range from 100,000 to 140,000.

Although Paraguay is landlocked, a river bearing the same name runs through the country from

north to south. This river is the main access route by water and the biggest export route. The country’s climate is variable: dry and tropical in the north and northeast, tropical in the middle, and subtropical in the south.

Economy Paraguay’s economic base is agricultural. Cotton, soy, sugar cane, and manioc are grown in Paraguay among others. The local industry is based on the production of foods, drinks, tobacco, wood, paper, non-metallic minerals, etc. The hydroelectric plants in Itaipú and Yacyretá, built in conjunction with Brazil and Argentina, respectively, provide Paraguay with an abundant and cheap source of energy. In addition, there is an informal sector of the economy that supports a significant segment of Paraguayan society. Government and administrative division


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Paraguay is a Presidential Republic, whose current Constitution dates back to 1992. Article 1 of the Constitution defines the Paraguayan State as follows: Paraguay is a state governed by the rule of law; and it is unitarian, indivisible, and decentralized. It has adopted, as its form of government, representative, participatory, and pluralistic democracy, based on the recognition of human dignity. The people elect their leaders by voting. The Government is run by the legislative, executive, and judicial powers in a system of independence, balance, coordination, and reciprocal control. Also, the Constitution states that dictatorship is illegal. Congress is bicameral; it has a Senate comprised of 45 Senators and a Chamber of Deputies comprised of 80 departmental representatives. The lawmakers of the two houses are elected from lists by means of direct vote for a period of 5 years. In terms of political and administrative structure, Paraguay is divided into departments, municipalities, and districts, which enjoy, according to the Constitution and laws, political, administrative, and regulatory autonomy with respect to matters within their sphere of interest, and autonomy in terms of the collection and investment of their resources. At the moment, Paraguay is comprised of 17 departments and 249 municipalities.


PART II The Electoral Observation Mission


1. Origin and mandate of the Mission

On August 19, 1997, the Government of Paraguay, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rubén Melgarejo Lanzoni, extended an invitation to the Secretary General of the Organization, Dr. César Gaviria, to send an Electoral Observation Mission for the general elections to be held on May 10, 1998 in that country. On October 31, 1997, the Secretary General granted the request of the Government, and instructed that the Mission be sent long enough in advance to observe the campaign and the administrative preparations for election day.

Following the instructions of the Secretary General, the Executive Coordinator and a specialist

from the Unit for the Promotion of Democracy traveled to Paraguay from February 2-5, 1998, to meet with electoral authorities, political parties, representatives of diplomatic missions, international organizations, and other civil society leaders to determine how the EOM could be involved in the electoral process. Based on the information received during this visit, a proposal was drafted for a mission to observe the most important aspects of the electoral process, which submitted to various member states and observer countries for possible financing. In order to establish this Mission, assistance was provided by the European Union, the United States, Japan, Switzerland, Canada and Argentina. It is important to point that the European Union provided approximately 50% of the resources needed for this Mission and maintained close contact with its representatives in Paraguay (Annex III, Budget).

Finally, it should be pointed out that this is the fourth Electoral Observation Mission that the

Organization sent to Paraguay. In 1989 and 993, three other missions of the same nature were sent. In 1991, 47 observers monitored the progress of the first municipal elections in the history of the country. Due to the fact that these elections were suspended in some municipalities, the OAS representatives remained in Paraguay for a total of four months. Subsequently, at the end of that year, the OAS observed elections for members of the constitutional assembly, sending 32 observers for one month. Finally, in 1993, the OAS observed the electoral process for the general elections, sending 90 observers throughout the country.


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Objective of the Mission Using as a basis the general guidelines of an Electoral Observation Mission, the UPD outlined the following objectives for the Mission in Paraguay: • demonstrate international support for the elections and democratic process in Paraguay;

• contribute to the holding of elections in an atmosphere of confidence; • reduce the possibility of attempts at electoral manipulation through an active international multi-

disciplinary presence; • verify official results; • encourage the participation of citizens who are eligible to vote; • complement the work being done by the OAS and other international institutions to strengthen

democracy, thus providing support for the electoral process in the country; • formulate recommendations for strengthening the electoral system in Paraguay; and • produce documents on the elections and provide useful information for future elections in Paraguay

and other countries. In order to fulfill the objectives mentioned, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay collaborated with government, electoral, and party officials, and with the population in general, insofar as the following tasks are concerned: • observing the progress of the electoral campaign and the organization of voting documents by the

electoral authorities; • receiving, analyzing, and forwarding electoral complaints, and checking to ensure their processing in

the manner established by law; • addressing the concerns and anxieties of the political parties, non-governmental organizations, and

other aspects of the electoral process with respect to the progress thereof;

• observing the voting, counting, tallying, and transmission of results on election day; • observing the post-electoral process, including the delivery and receipt of electoral material, the

review of records, and the settlement of protests; and • drafting the Secretary General’s report for submission to the Permanent Council of the OAS.


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Terms of Reference On March 10, 1998, the Government of Republic of Paraguay and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States signed the agreement regarding the privileges and immunities of the observers of the electoral process in Paraguay, which served as a frame of reference for the activities conducted by the Mission. This document was signed on the basis of the invitation from the Government of Paraguay and the subsequent consent given by the Secretary General of the Organization, using as a basis Article 133 of the OAS Charter and the basic privileges and immunities enjoyed by the OAS in Paraguay, established in the agreement approved by that Government on January 6, 1970. In that regard, the privileges and immunities of the OAS observer group were the same as those extended to the Organization’s entities and were granted to safeguard its independence in the exercise of the functions relating to the observation of the electoral process and abstention from involvement in political activities on Paraguayan territory. 2. Start and functioning of the Mission

The OAS Electoral Observation Mission started its activities in Paraguay on March 7, 1998, with the arrival of the first group of observers. This group was comprised of the Chief of the Mission and members of the core group who were responsible for logistics, press relations, and liaison with the TSJE. Structure of the Mission The first group of observers was responsible for preparing the organizational structure of the Mission and establishing its office. The group was responsible for the following areas: General coordination. This was the responsibility of the Chief of the Mission, who gave instructions for the planning, execution, follow-up, and evaluation of the different activities and contacts to be maintained with persons directly and indirectly involved in the electoral process. Administrative/logistical. This involved generating the administrative and logistical elements necessary to achieve the goals established in the work plan of the Mission. An official whose function involved the management of the human resources, materials, and finances of the Mission was responsible for this area, thereby ensuring that they were in the right place at the right time. Legal/electoral. This area dealt with objections and complaints and the monitoring of legal and activities related to the electoral process. An electoral-legal official was responsible for this area, and for monitoring the processing of complaints and filing of appeals, among other activities.


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Political/electoral. Responsibility in this area was related to the analysis and evaluation of the political environment during the electoral process. Two officials were assigned responsibility for this area. Under the leadership of the Chief of the Mission, they monitored the political process on an ongoing basis during the phases of the electoral campaign and on election day. Technical/electoral. This area was responsible for the design, follow-up, and control of the observation strategies and mechanisms in the field; for the collection, analysis, and submission of reports drafted on the basis of data obtained by means of these procedures; for the design of training manuals and forms; and for contact with the TSJE. This area was comprised of three permanent officials and a statistician who joined the group a few days prior to the elections for the purpose of rapid vote counting. Press. Responsibility in this area involved the drafting of communiqués of the Mission and relations with the national and foreign mass media. The Press also served as spokesperson for the Mission. Territorial distribution The territorial distribution plan of the Mission took a series of factors into account, such as the numerical size of the electorate by department, the characteristics of the territory to be covered, and the financial resources of the Mission. During the electoral process, mission representatives went to 13 of the 17 departments in the country, where they visited 187 municipalities, which translates into 75% of the total number of national municipalities. In order to perform its tasks, the Mission opened seven regional offices, listed below: Regional Office Departments Asunción Regional Office Asunción, Central and Cordillera Ciudad del Este Regional Office Alto Paraná and Canindeyú Colonel Oviedo Regional Office Caaguazú, San Pedro, Guairá, and Caazapá Encarnación Regional Office Itapuá Concepción Regional Office Concepción and Alto Paraguay San Juan Bautista Regional Office Misiones, Paraguarí and Ñeembucú Pedro Juan Cabellero Regional Office Amanbay


PART III Institutional Framework


1. Electoral Justice System

In Paraguay, the electoral system is comprised of permanent and temporary entities. The first are the high court of the electoral justice system, the supreme electoral entity; electoral tribunals; electoral courts; electoral supervisory offices, and the electoral registry. The second are citizen boards and polling stations.

The High Court of the Electoral Justice System (TSJE) This entity is comprised of three members appointed by the National Congress. They are sworn in before the Senate. The TSJE is the supreme entity with respect to electoral matters and insofar as its decisions are concerned, the only action that can be taken is on grounds of unconstitutionality. Its central office is located in the capital of the Republic and it has jurisdiction over the entire country. In addition, it oversees and has the authority to take disciplinary action with respect to any electoral entity. Its responsibilities include the management and supervision of the electoral register, the administration of resources allocated in the General National Budget for electoral purposes, and the appointment and removal of all judicial and administrative officials of the electoral entity. Electoral Tribunals

Electoral tribunals are spread throughout ten judicial districts. Each tribunal is comprised of three members who are elected by the Council of Magistrates and are sworn in by the Supreme Court. Their actions are governed by the regulations applicable to magistrates. Electoral tribunals exercise functions at the offices of the regular courts that have the same territorial jurisdiction.

Two divisions are located in Asunción, the first has jurisdiction over the capital and central department, and the second, over the Departments of Cordillera, Paraguarí, and part of Chaco. Outside of Asunción, there are eight departmental electoral tribunals with the following jurisdictions: 3rd Concepción and Alto Paraguay tribunal 4th Amanbay tribunal 5th Caaguazú and San Pedro tribunal

6th Guairá and Caazapá tribunal 7th Misiones tribunal


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8th Ñeembucú tribunal 9th Itapuá tribunal 10th Alto Paraná and Canindeyú tribunal The main functions of the tribunals are to manage and oversee the elections held in their jurisdiction, to form citizen boards, and to do provisional counting. The TSJE is responsible for the final calculation of the results and determining the outcome of the elections. Candidacies for national and departmental positions are submitted to the high court of the electoral justice system. Electoral courts The primary function of electoral courts is to organize, direct, and oversee the elections and public meetings in their respective jurisdictions. Another task is the designation of polling sites and poll workers, recommended by citizen boards. Electoral judges order the publication of electoral announcements and the posting thereof on public buildings, and indicate the places where polling stations will operate. They also receive and organize the distribution of all materials, equipment, documents, and resources needed to hold the election. The judges also issue the police security measures necessary for electoral activities to proceed smoothly. Finally, they accredit the agents and party poll watchers and issue their credentials. There is an electoral court in each departmental capital, with the exception of Alto Paraguay and Boquerón, which are merged with the Concepción and Villa Hayes tribunals, respectively. There are two tribunals in Asunción. The Judges are appointed by the Council of Magistrates. Electoral supervisory offices Electoral supervisors are appointed by the Supreme Court, based on the recommendations of the Council of Magistrates. Their functions include taking action on their own initiative or at the request of a party, in cases involving electoral wrongdoing and offenses, and participating in the public control and supervision of parties, political movements, and electoral alliances. There is at least one electoral supervisor in each departmental capital. Electoral Registry A director and deputy director appointed by the TSJE are responsible for this entity. At the moment, it is run by a Council, whose functions will cease after the 1998 general elections. The electoral registry is comprised of a representative of the four majority political parties that are represented in parliament and if its decisions are to be valid, they must be unanimous. Its functions include preparing and revising the Permanent Civic Register, updating it, and the establishment and safekeeping of files. The electoral registry also prepares copies of electoral lists and provides the resources necessary for the electoral process. Together with the national police, they are jointly responsible for overseeing the issuing, distribution, and control of identification cards, the document that is needed to vote. The electoral registry has branches in all the districts and parishes of the country.


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Citizen boards Citizen boards are auxiliary electoral entities, which begin their operations 60 days prior to the elections and end them 30 days thereafter. Their mission is to provide assistance with the organization of the elections from an administrative standpoint. Citizen boards are comprised of five members along with their respective alternates, from whom a President and Secretary are elected. They perform a civic duty; therefore, they cannot resign from office. Their duties include receiving and forwarding to judges the proposals of political parties for poll watchers and poll workers, issuing credentials to poll watchers and poll workers accredited by electoral judges, receiving from electoral tribunals all the materials, resources, equipment, and documents needed for the organization of the elections, and organizing, in conjunction with the electoral judge, the distribution thereof. Polling stations Polling stations are comprised of a President and two members who are elected from the candidates proposed by the political parties with the greatest number of seats in the Congress, and are appointed by an electoral judge 15 days prior to the elections, at the latest. However, a polling station cannot have more than one member of the same party. Once the selections have been made, the President and members are chosen by a drawing; a process that is overseen by the representatives of political parties. Once the electoral judge approves the polling site, poll workers are notified eight days prior to the election and attend the appropriate training courses at least three days prior to the election. 2. Political parties

The two main political parties, the National Republican Association (ANR) or the Colorado Party and the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) were and have been the leading parties in the past one hundred years of Paraguay’s political history.

Founded in 1887, the two parties, taken together, have run the country for almost one century

and during different periods of its history, with each remaining in power for decades. The ANR has been running the country since 1947, that is, for 51 years, and the Liberal Party ran the country for more than forty years continuously during the first half of the twentieth century.

Below is a brief overview of the main political parties in Paraguay:

National Republican Association (ANR)“Colorado Party” This party was founded on September 11, 1887 as the National Republican Association (ANR) by General Bernadino Caballero, a hero of the Triple Alliance War and President of the Republic. He led the party until his death in 1912.


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Currently, the ANR is considered one of the most influential groupings in Paraguay and it was one of the main contenders in the 1998 general and departmental elections. Internal political currents vary depending on the political situation. At the moment, there are three well-defined factions: one that represents the official party philosophy, the Colorado Movement for Reconciliation (MRC), headed by Dr. Luis María Argaña who is holding office for the 1996-1999 period. It is the oldest internal movement in the party since it was formed prior to the 1993 presidential elections. Another is headed by Retired General Lino Oviedo, and dates back to the 1997 presidential caucuses and is called the National Union of Ethical Colorados (UNACE). Finally, there is the faction that follows the official government position, headed by the outgoing President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, called Democratic Republican Action (ADR). During the 1998 elections, Mr. Raúl Cubas Grau and Dr. Luis María Argaña were the official ANR candidates for President and Vice President of Paraguay, respectively. Cubas and Argaña rose to these positions after Retired General Lino César Oviedo, who was initially elected as the ANR official presidential candidate for those elections, was disqualified . Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) Together with the Colorado Party, the PLRA is one of the biggest political groupings in Paraguay, and has left a decisive mark on the history of this country in the past century. It has two big internal factions: one that follows the official party position, headed by Domingo Laíno, called Change for Liberation. The other has, as its main leader, Miguel A. Saguier, former President of the Congress and aspirant for the presidential candidate position in the party caucus in 1997, and Julio César Franco, the former governor of the populous city of Fernando de la Mora and candidate for the Senate in the 1998 general elections. The PLRA has changed its name several times over its fifty-year history. It was established as the Democratic Center by José Segundo Decoud, among others, on July 10, 1887. It was later called the Liberal Radical Party during the 1960s, and after that, the Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA) during the 1970s, under the leadership of Domingo Laíno, the current President of the PLRA. Like the Liberal Party (PL), it held the reins of power for more than forty years, from 1902 to 1947, a period during which there were some 15 Presidents, some of whom held office for different periods. In the 1998 elections, the PLRA joined with the National Encuentro Party and formed the “Democratic Alliance,” which selected, as official candidates for the position of President and Vice President, Drs. Domingo Laíno and Carlos Filizzola, respectively. National Encuentro Party (PEN) According to its founders, who established this political party on October 26, 1991, the National Encuentro Party was created for the purpose of providing new political vistas and opportunities for participation, in order to help strengthen democracy. Its main leader and one of its founders, Guillermo Caballero Vargas, is a well-known business and was the first presidential candidate of this political grouping in the 1993 general elections, during which the PEN gained significant ground in


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both houses of Congress. Another prominent leader of the PEN is Carlos Filizzola, the current President of the Party, who joined it as Chief of the Asunción for All (APT) political grouping, which backed his candidacy for governor in 1991. After the 1993 general elections, Filizzola officially joined the PEN creating an internal faction based on which he became Chief of the party (Integration and Solidarity Movement for Full Participation Party – PAIS). The other internal faction is the traditional Integration Encuentrista Movement (MIE), headed by leaders who belong to the encuentrista faction, and who, for the most part, are co-founders of the PEN and supported the candidacy of Dr. Caballero Vargas in the 1993 general elections. Febrerista Revolutionary Party (PRF) This party has its origins first, in the Chaco War (1932-1935), when farmers and students banded together to fight Bolivia in a territorial conflict, and later, in what was called the 1936 Febrerista Revolution, which followed that war and defeated the government of then President Eusebio Ayala (PL). Although at that time, the Febreristas remained in power for 18 months and played an active role in the history of Paraguay during that unstable period preceding the 1947 civil war, it was only officially organized as a political party in 1954. During the 1993 general elections, the PRF formed an alliance with the PEN, winning a few seats in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. In the 1998 elections, the Febrerista party nominated Luis Campos and Roberto Ferreira as candidates for President and Vice President, respectively. Christian Democratic Party (PDC) This party was started with the name Social Christian Democratic Movement on May 15, 1960, but was later called the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) on June 14, 1960. It was recognized and registered as a political party on March 6, 1989, and participated in the elections held almost two months later. It also participated in the 1992 National Constitutional Convention. The PDC did not nominate candidates for the positions of President and Vice President in the 1998 elections and did not support any alliance. Christian National Union (Blanco Party) The Christian National Union was founded in 1987 and describes itself as being national, social, and Christian. Its principles are governed by faith, nationalism, and freedom. Its candidates for President and Vice President were Gustavo Bader Ibáñez and Silerio Segovia Talavera, respectively. It did not nominate candidates for all positions. National Renovation Movement (MORENA)

This party nominated candidates for Senate positions and a number of departmental positions. The candidates were characterized by their adherence to an evangelical Christian doctrine. 3. The Press


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The main press organ with a documented history in Paraguay is El Paraguayo Independiente,

which was established on April 26, 1845, under the government, with sponsorship and editing by then President Carlos Antonio López. However, El Paraguayo Independiente was a State-owned media entity and it was only 10 years after its founding, in 1855, that President López recognized the right of all citizens to publish their ideas and opinions, although with restrictions, in the print media.

The 1870 Constitution effectively acknowledged the right of citizens to publish their ideas

without prior censorship and incorporated the first U.S. constitutional amendment. It established that “freedom of the press is inviolable” and specified that “no law” that violated that right would be enacted. The 1940 Constitution recognized the right of Paraguayans to publish their own ideas, on condition that these ideas pertain to matters of general interest. It stipulated that “public order exigencies limit the exercise of that right.”

After a long period of restriction under the dictatorship of General Stroessner (1945-1989),

freedom of expression and other rights and guarantees were gradually restored, beginning with the re-introduction of a democratic regime in 1989.

At the moment, four major newspapers shape and guide public opinion in Paraguay. They are:

ABC Color, Ultima Hora, Noticias, and La Nación, as do three radio stations: Radio Cardinal, Radio Ñandutí, and Radio Primero de Marzo, in addition to three television stations: Channel 9 SNT, Channel 13 RPC, and Channel 4 Telefuturo, all of which are privately owned. A general outline of the four main newspapers that shape and guide public opinion in Paraguay is provided below.

ABC Color This was the first major newspaper in terms of circulation, influence, and duration. ABC Color was introduced on August 8, 1967, shortly after the Constitution of that year took effect. Its appearance marked the beginning of the contemporary era in Paraguayan journalism. It was started with two basic missions: becoming an essentially independent media entity, and advocating, from the ground, freedom of the press. It began to encourage the shaping of democratic values, the benefits of freedom of expression, opposition to the government of Stroessner, the fostering of a civic conscience among citizens, and the promotion of education. However, at the beginning of the 1980s, great pressure was brought to bear on the newspaper. The trucks that distributed the newspaper in the country were meticulously checked, a practice that delayed its delivery by up to 17 hours, official advertising was withdrawn, and it was prevented from obtaining currency to import resources. In 1984, its Director and a number of journalists were detained, and finally, publication of the newspaper was suspended for an indefinite period. The ABC remained closed for six years; until March 22, 1989. Ultima Hora This newspaper appeared in 1975 during a particularly difficult political period. Paraguay was experiencing human rights violations and the press was undergoing severe restrictions; a situation which


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nevertheless contrasted with the economic growth that started with the construction of the Itaipú dam in 1973 and had an impact on the modernization of communications in the country. Ultima Hora began with a commitment to evolve as an independent and nationalistic entity, with a vocation of service to the country and community, as stated in the editorial of its first issue, a trend that continues today. At the moment, it publishes two daily editions; the first mid-morning edition is sent to the most remote regions of the country, and the second is published at midday, and is circulated in the capital and central region of the country. Noticias The newspaper Noticias started operations in the offices of the former newspaper La Tribuna on July 12, 1984. Noticias is part of the Private Communication Network (RPC), made up of Television Channel 13 and Radio Cardinal AM, covering national territory and the border regions of neighboring countries, and Radio Cardinal FM, which together form the only group of broadcast, press, and television businesses in the country. La Nación This newspaper appeared on May 25, 1995, and is defined as an independent and critical media entity whose editorial pages cover different opinions. Its main objective was to provide a new and independent voice to the national news, to provide a medium where greater emphasis was placed on graphic information, and where drawings permitted the reader a clearer idea of the news, without overlooking news coverage. 4. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Since the 1989 elections, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played an important role in the civic education of voters and in overseeing electoral processes in the country.

At the national level, “Decidamos,” a grouping of 14 NGOs, works on various civic education

programs. During the electoral process, electoral matters were stressed within a general context of democracy. The campaign was headed by two different groups; one comprised of persons who are in some way involved with associations and the other is made up of the general population. The second group prepared radio messages and posters and distributed them during street performances and mock voting. These activities began in April, once voting procedures were established by the TSJE.

Five NGOs, including “Decidamos” also formed an organization called SAKÃ, which did a

parallel vote count for the presidential elections (the SAKÃ group spearheaded an earlier tallying effort in the 1991 municipal elections and quick count in the 1993 general elections). Despite the problems on election day (power outage and loss of telephone service), SAKÃ started to broadcast results on that day. These results were accepted by the public in general and served as a critical means of comparison with the official results. For the 1998 elections, SAKÃ received technical and financial support from the Center for Electoral Advisory and Promotional Matters (CAPEL).


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The contribution of the community of non-governmental organizations also included training of electoral officials and representatives of political parties. Various NGOs within the country, together with the TSJE, designed and executed a training program for poll workers and party poll watchers. Moreover, emphasis was placed on citizen education, by holding training sessions for trainers, who were responsible for training the poll watchers of the different parties. Manuals covering the mechanics of voting were prepared to complement training sessions.

These internal NGOs assisted the TSJE with the rapid transmission of the results of presidential

elections. At least one organization from each department was responsible for the delivery of certificates from polling stations to centers for the transmission of results. Although the organizations played an important role in this exercise, the transmission of results was the exclusive responsibility of the TSJE. 5. The Catholic church

Another institution that played an important role in strengthening democracy in general and in the 1998 electoral process in particular, is the Catholic church. During this pre-electoral process, the Episcopal conference opened national dialogue for each actor involved in the process to present his concerns and recommendations, with a view to clarifying doubts and lowering tensions existing at that time. Although this took place only twice and clarification of the process was provided by means of Supreme Court decisions, the dialogue demonstrated the commitment of the Catholic church to seek peaceful settlements and to preserve the democratic system in Paraguay.

On March 18, 1998, the Catholic church made a call to the political leadership in the country to

coordinate efforts to build a better country. In this call, the difficult economic situation in which the majority of the population lives and other political, economic, social, and electoral matters were analyzed (Annex IV, Message from the Bishops of Paraguay).

6. International actors

Several international groups provided advisory services to various sectors of Paraguayan society. For example, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has been working in Paraguay since 1996. During the municipal elections, its technicians came to Paraguay to observe the elections and to provide financial support to a number of non-governmental organizations. Later, it did an evaluation of the electoral process, and provided its suggestions to the electoral tribunal.

During the 1998 elections, the IFES conducted various tasks that focused on four distinct areas.

The first consisted of providing support to 16 national NGOs that participated in the civic education campaign. The second involved training electoral officials. The third consisted of advising the TSJE on the various possibilities for transmission of preliminary results through the donation of computer equipment. Finally, the IFES sent six experts to monitor the electoral process during its final phase, who later provided the TSJE with their technical recommendations.

The National Democratic Institute (NDI) worked for a year and a half with political parties to

strengthen the structure of these parties. During the pre-electoral phase, one of its functions was to co-


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organize discussions among the different candidates and to assist the political parties in training representatives and party poll watchers.

The Center for Electoral Advisory and Promotional Matters (CAPEL), an entity that is part of

the Inter-American Human Rights Institute (IIDH), went to Paraguay to observe the elections on the invitation of the TSJE. In addition, it worked with SAKÃ on the quick count of votes for the Presidential and Vice Presidential positions.


PART IV Activities of the Electoral Observation Mission


1. Office of the Electoral Observation Mission

The following tasks were conducted in various areas of work:

General Coordination The Chief of Mission maintained a busy schedule of meetings with the various national and international actors involved in the electoral process. Frequent visits were made to the TSJE, which led to good relations that were maintained throughout the Mission’s stay, and an observer was assigned to each area. With regard to the political authorities, several meetings were held with the Minister and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs to discuss matters related to the work of the Mission. After meeting with Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates of the main political parties and movements, the Chief of Mission appointed the members of the mission to serve as liaisons with the Chief of the respective campaigns. The observers assigned to this area met with the aforementioned individuals on daily basis in order to keep the Mission informed of the various aspects of the electoral campaign, including the campaign schedule and concerns of parties at the national level. Other contacts established by the Chief of the Mission and maintained by observers were with the technicians of non-governmental organizations, authorities of the Catholic church, leaders of the civil society, and journalists in various sectors of the mass media. As part of the coordination work of the Mission, a number of meetings were held with regional coordinators to discuss the various operational aspects of the Mission and to continue harmonizing its activities. To strengthen these ties, the Chief of Mission visited various regional offices of the Mission for an on site observation of the electoral process and work being done by the regional offices. During visits to regional offices, the Chief of Mission followed the same pattern used in Asunción when meeting with the various actors of the electoral process. Training


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When they arrived in Asunción, the observers attended one day of training headed by members of the core group. The program consisted of presentations on structure and electoral administration, the terms of reference for electoral administration, the logistics of the Mission and electoral observation methodology. Observers received written material that included the National Constitution, the Electoral Code, civic education and training materials, and OAS forms for electoral observation. The TSJE accredited all observers before they went to their respective regional offices. Once in these offices, observers also received orientation relating to the local situation which included initial contact with the electoral authorities and political leaders. Receipt and transmission of information In order to organize the information collected by observers, the Mission prepared a series of forms. They were divided into: (1) political documents, (2) complaints, (3) progress of voting, (4) transmission of results, and (5) quick count. Coordinators were responsible for the consolidation of information and submission thereof to central office for use by the Chief of the Mission. At the same time, coordinators provided narrative reports to the Chief of the Mission on a regular basis. 2. Regional Offices

The following were the principal tasks conducted by observers from their assigned points:

Setting up of offices In general, office space was rented at hotels, which, for the most part, provided accommodation for observers. They were provided with the material necessary for the proper performance of their duties, and in some cases, local personnel were also hired to do secretarial work. Contact with the authorities As part of the operations of regional offices, frequent visits were conducted to electoral tribunals, electoral courts, the electoral registry, and citizen boards in the corresponding zones. In addition, contact was maintained with the political authorities, candidates of the various political parties, church authorities, and officials of the National Police and Armed Forces. In addition, contact was established with the various departmental media entities, largely radio stations and the print media, in order to provide them with a flow of information on the work of the Mission. Observation of electoral campaign, civic/electoral education, and training activities Once political parties had provided observers with information on their campaign activities, they conducted follow-up work in this area. Some non-governmental organizations prepared various civic and electoral education documents during the three weeks preceding the elections. Assistance was provided by IFES (see point 6, part III) with these activities. Observers were present during these activities in order to gauge the interest of the population and the message transmitted.


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Observers also participated in training workshops for members of citizen boards and polling stations in order to determine how work was progressing and also to explain the work of the Mission observers to participants. During workshops, the low attendance of workers at training sessions was noted. The main office was informed of this. During that period, a total of 13 of the 17 departments in Paraguay were visited. In these departments, a total of 187 municipalities were visited. This means that 75% of the total number of municipalities at the national level were visited. Visits to municipalities Departmental municipalities were visited in order to check the conditions of roads, so that communication could be established with the regional and main offices. Based on these visits, plans were made to send various teams of observers to each department. During these visits, a check was done of conditions at polling sites and the distribution of electoral material to municipalities. Receipt of complaints Complaints relating to matters linked to the electoral process were received at regional offices. Follow-up work was done with respect to these complaints in instances where the complainant filed a formal complaint with the appropriate authorities. This consisted of checking the manner in which complaints were handled by the authorities and making sure that action taken was in keeping with the laws in force. In instances where the complainant did not wish to file a complaint with the local authorities, the complaint was handled as one received for information purposes of the Mission, and no follow-up action was taken. 3. The visit by the OAS Secretary General

From March 20-23, two weeks after the Mission was established, the OAS Secretary General visited Paraguay to speak to the various actors involved in the process on a number of matters of common interest; namely, the possibility of postponing the elections due to uncertainty regarding the viability of the candidacy of Retired General Lino Oviedo of the Colorado Party (in regard to whom a Supreme Court decision is pending on a sentence handed down against him by a Special Military Tribunal in open court), and criticisms of the voter list.

During his visit, the Secretary met with the President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Wasmosy,

with TSJE officials, with ANR candidates and representatives, with the Democratic Alliance, and the media.

After a number of meetings at which different points of view were exchanged, the

aforementioned leaders confirmed to the Secretary General their willingness to respect decisions made regarding the electoral process, in particular Supreme Court decisions concerning the ANR presidential candidate. Moreover, based on a suggestion of the Secretary General, a verbal agreement was reached with the TSJE to address the concerns expressed by one of the political parties regarding the voter list.


PART V Political and Electoral Matters


1. Registration and disqualification of candidacies

Although no major concerns were expressed by the political parties with respect to the registration and disqualification of candidates, it should be pointed out that insofar as registration of the Colorado Party candidates is concerned, the Colorado Reconciliation Movement filed five suits for unconstitutionality against decisions handed down by the TSJE. They were: (1) the refusal of the TSJE to hear the case for nullity filed by the movement against the party’s decision declaring the Oviedo-Cubas ticket as the winning one; (2) the TSJE decision upholding the victory of the Oviedo-Cubas ticket; (3) the official registration of the candidacy of the Colorado Party; (4) the rejection by the tribunal’s magistrates of the protest filed against them; and (5) the inclusion of supposedly fraudulent documents in internal party caucuses. All these suits related to unconstitutionality were rejected by the Supreme Court.

The rejection of the suits for unconstitutionality led to the upholding of the Oviedo-Cubas

presidential ticket and other Colorado Party candidacies. However, on April 17, 1998, the Supreme Court upheld the ruling of the Special Military Tribunal condemning Retired Div. General Lino Oviedo, the presidential candidate of the Oviedo party, to 10 years in prison. This decision was communicated to the TSJE , which immediately and in accordance with legislation in force, proceeded to disqualify Oviedo and to replace him with Cubas-Argaña ticket.

The parties that put forward candidates were the following:

President and Vice President of the Republic Party President Vice President Colorado Party (ANR) Raúl Cubas Grau Luis María Argaña Democratic Alliance Domingo Laíno Carlos Filizzola Revolutionary Febrerista Party Luís Campos Roberto Ferreiro Blanco Party Gustavo Bader Silverio Silvio Segovia Senators

Party National Revolutionary Association (ANR)


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Febrerista Revolutionary Party (PRF) Movement for National Renovation (MORENA) Blanco Party (PB) Christian Democratic Party (PDC) Democratic Alliance (ALIANZA)

Governor

Department Parties I Concepción ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE II San Pedro ANR, ALLIANCE III Cordillera ANR, PB, ALLIANCE IV Guairá ANR, ALLIANCE V Caaguazú ANR, PB, ALLIANCE VI Caazapá ANR, ALLIANCE VII Itapuá ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VIII Misiones ANR, ALLIANCE IX Paraguarí ANR, ALLIANCE X Alto Paraná ANR, ALLIANCE XI Central ANR, PB, ALLIANCE XII Ñeembucú ANR, ALLIANCE XIII Amambay ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XIV Canindeyú ANR, ALLIANCE XV Pte Hayes ANR, ALLIANCE XVI Alto Paraguay ANR, ALLIANCE

XVII Boquerón ANR, ALLIANCE Deputies

Department Parties Asunción ANR, PRF, MORENA, PB, PDC, ALLIANCE I Concepción ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE II San Pedro ANR, ALLIANCE III Cordillera ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE IV Guairá ANR, ALLIANCE V Caaguazú ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VI Caazapá ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VII Itapuá ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VIII Misiones ANR, ALLIANCE IX Paraguarí ANR, ALLIANCE X Alto Paraná ANR, ALLIANCE XI Central ANR, PRF, MORENA, PB, PDC, ALLIANCE XII Ñeembucú ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XIII Amambay ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XIV Canindeyú ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XV Pte. Hayes ANR, ALLIANCE XVI Alto Paraguay ANR, ALLIANCE XVII Boquerón ANR, ALLIANCE

Departmental boards

Department Parties I Concepción ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE


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II San Pedro ANR, ALLIANCE III Cordillera ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE IV Guairá ANR, ALLIANCE V Caaguazú ANR, PRF, MORENA, ALLIANCE VI Caazapá ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VII Itapuá ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE VIII Misiones ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE IX Paraguarí ANR, ALLIANCE X Alto Paraná ANR, ALLIANCE, PRF XI Central ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XII Ñeembucú ANR, ALLIANCE XIII Amambay ANR, PRF, ALLIANCE XIV Canindeyú ANR, ALLIANCE XV Pte. Hayes ANR, MORENA, ALLIANCE XVI Alto Paraguay ANR, ALLIANCE XVII Boquerón ANR, ALLIANCE

2. Electoral campaign financing Regulatory framework

The Paraguayan State grants an annual subsidy to parties, political movements, and alliances.

The amount of the subsidy corresponds to 15% of the daily minimum wage for each vote obtained in the most recent elections to Congress.

Furthermore, the law establishes, for the positions of President and Vice President of the

Republic, for example, a subsidy equivalent to 50,000 times the daily minimum wage for non-specific expenditure. This translates into a sum of approximately $300,000, taking into account the fact that the current minimum wage is 17,000 guaraníes and the exchange rate to the dollar is 3,000 guaraníes.

Furthermore, a contribution is provided for all electoral activities. The amount depends on the

office being sought, and it is given to parties, political movements, and alliances according to the positions for which they have been elected in the 90 days following the elections. The subsidy is for candidates running for the office of President, Vice President, Senator, representative in the Chamber of Deputies, governor, and departmental board member.

For each Senator and Representative elected, the amount is 2,000 times the daily minimum

wage; for each governor, 5,000; and for each Departmental Board member, 500 times the daily minimum wage.

The law prohibits parties, political movements, and alliances from receiving donations for their

electoral campaigns from: (1) any public administration office, (2) autonomous or independent decentralized entities; (3) dual economy companies, binational entities, or companies that provide services and supplies to any public entities; (4) foreign persons or entities; (5) trade unions, business


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associations or entities that represent any other sector of the economy; and (6) physical persons or entities whose worth exceeds 5,000 times the daily minimum wage.

Methods of distribution Funds are distributed to political parties annually by elected representatives. Expenditure for electoral campaigns is supposed to be disbursed 90 days after the elections. In reality, the disbursement does take place, but not within that timeframe. Disbursement is piecemeal and takes place over several months.


PART VI Pre-electoral Phase


1. General Framework

During the pre-electoral phase, the most important technical/electoral areas were the following: the permanent civil registry, the voter registration list, issuance of identification cards, the selection and training of officials of citizen boards and polling stations, the distribution of electoral material, and the transmission of preliminary results (Annex V, Elections Timeline).

The Permanent Civil Registry

Paraguay has a permanent civil registry, which provides the basis of the voter registration list. The permanent civil registry is comprised of the national civil registry and the foreign registry. The citizen is responsible for placing his name on the registry. The reference document used for these elections was the voter registration list for the 1996 municipal elections.

The permanent civil registry was updated last year between March and October. During this

period, people could place their names on the registry and make any necessary changes as a result of changes in residence, etc. In addition, data in the civil registry was matched with data in the registry maintained by the Identifications Department of the National Police. This made it possible further to revise and update the civil registry and to declare eligible all registered persons who had reached voting age before to election day.

Based on the information furnished by the electoral registry district offices, the Office prepared

voter lists for each district, with each having a maximum of 200 persons registered. These lists were to be completed 30 days prior to the elections and submitted to electoral courts so that they could be collected and a receipt issued by the Presidents of the appropriate citizen boards. The lists contained the following information: the polling station number, the list of voters (first and last names), address, and identification number, a space to record the vote and another for comments.

The voter registration list


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Later on, the section from the permanent civil registry that was used to determine the voter registration list was prepared. In this case only the national civil registry was used since foreigners are allowed to vote in municipal elections only.

In order to prepare the 1998 voter registration list, an effort was made to remove minors,

deceased persons, persons living abroad, and military service personnel from the list. However, it was not possible to screen persons residing abroad, who cannot vote after they have lived abroad for five years, since there is no valid register on emigrants. Also, it was not possible to use the information on citizens performing military service due to the fact that these lists contain only the names of recruits, and no additional information (identification no., etc) for their satisfactory identification.

The number of persons registered on the voter registration list (Annex VI, National Summary of

the Voters List) is shown in the following table:

1998 voter registration list Registered persons eligible in 1996 1,697,333 Registered persons eligible in 1997 352,116 Total 2,049,449

The new permanent civil registry was updated under Law 772, which made provisions related

to domicile voting. In other words, the pertinent information of the place where the citizen had registered and would vote (electoral address) instead of the home address was used. At the moment, there is a legislative void in terms of the address of voters, in view of the fact that Law 772 has lapsed, resulting in a return to the former law. The latter does not provide clarification regarding the use of the electoral address. The lack of information on the domicile of more than one million voters is the basis for a formal complaint filed by the Colorado party with the TSJE, which is described in detail in Part X, the complaints section of the voter registration list.

The 1998 voter registration list consisted, to a large extent, of information from the voter

registration list used in 1996, which was praised in all political quarters of the country (83% of registered voters were on the 1996 list). Of the changes made, 1.5% changed polling site within the same municipality, 1% changed municipality within the same department, and 1.5% changed department. New votes comprised 12.5%, corresponding to 255,763 voters.

Publication of the voter registration list

After the registration period, the permanent civil registry was published so that citizens could file their challenges and complaints. After this period, that is, November 1997, the political parties were given a copy of the voter registration list on diskette, that is, two months prior to the elections. Finally, they were given a printed list on April 27. List of voters by department

Department Voters Asunción 285,044 I Concepción 67,927


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II San Pedro 109,540 III Cordillera 114,042 IV Guairá 75,375 V Caaguazú 160,065 VI Caazapá 53,146 VII Itapuá 166,831 VIII Misiones 47,035 IX Paraguarí 103,501 X Alto Paraná 185,075 XI Central 512,595 XII Ñeembucú 39,134 XIII Amambay 43,423 XIV Canindeyú 37,234 XV Pte. Hayes 32,075 XVI Alto Paraguay 5,113 XVII Boquerón 12,294 Grand total 2,049,449

Issuance of identification cards and distribution of electoral material

By law, the only document that permits an individual to vote is the identification card. It is issued by the National Police, and there is coordination between this entity and the electoral justice system. To register in the permanent civil registry, a citizen must have an identification card. During the 1997 registration period, a campaign to register individuals in the permanent civil registry and a campaign for the issuance of identification cards were conducted simultaneously.

2. Electoral logistics The printing and distribution of electoral material

There were no significant delays in the production of electoral materials. The only difficulty arose with the printing of presidential and vice presidential ballots, due to the uncertainty regarding the candidacy of Retired General Lino Oviedo. The printing of the other ballots took place as scheduled, with the back of the presidential ballots also being printed, thereby giving the Supreme Court time to decide on appeals of the sentence handed down by the Special Military Tribunal against Oviedo. Finally, once the tribunal had handed down a sentence on that case, the ballots were printed in time for distribution with the rest of the electoral material.

The resources of the electoral justice system were used for distribution, and, as on previous

occasions, assistance was received from the Armed Forces with this task. The Armed Forces distributed and collected the electoral material in all the electoral districts of the country, by land, air, and river.

Polling sites


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An official selected by the citizen board of the corresponding electoral district was supposed to be at each polling site. This official was responsible for the proper functioning of the electoral process for all polling stations in this area, and for turning over to the President of each polling station all election-related materials, resources, and documents necessary. This official was also responsible for setting up information posts at polling sites and facilitating the checking by voters of their location at polling stations, according to the appropriate voter registration list. Once vote counting was over, the Presidents of each polling station was supposed to give him, and place on record, the documents, voter registration lists, and ballots used in the elections, with the stipulation that they be turned over to the electoral judge following the appropriate security measures.

The polling site official was supposed to receive three envelopes from each polling station: one

for the TSJE, one for the Electoral Tribunal of his jurisdiction, and one for the district office of the Electoral Registry. TSJE and Electoral Tribunal envelopes were supposed to be turned over the electoral judge, and the one for the Electoral Registry, to the Chief of this district office.

Each party, political movement, or alliance could designate two representatives and two

alternates to oversee the work at each polling site. In addition to these representatives, the parties, political movements, and alliances could designate a representative and an alternate to oversee the electoral process at the departmental level. The setting up of polling stations

During the period that polling stations were set up, there were widespread complaints from members of the ANR over the appointment of Alliance supporters as members of their respective parties, which entitled them to two of the three positions at polling stations. The complaints were dismissed by the judges because in their view, although they formed an alliance for the purpose of the elections, they are two to the three biggest parties in Congress and also, once they were appointed as poll workers, they had to set aside their partisan attitudes and become impartial electoral observers.

Also, during this phase, two electoral judges were removed and several judicial decisions were

appealed (See Part X “Complaints”). Location of polling stations

The spread of polling stations by Department for the elections was the following:

Department Voters Asunción 1428 I Concepción 341 II San Pedro 546 III Cordillera 570 IV Guairá 377 V Caaguazú 796 VI Caazapá 266 VII Itapuá 839 VIII Misiones 234


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IX Paraguarí 515 X Alto Paraná 928 XI Central 2563 XII Ñeembucú 199 XIII Amambay 218 XIV Canindeyú 184 XV Pte. Hayes 160 XVI Alto Paraguay 28 XVII Boquerón 63 Grand total 10257

The majority of polling stations were located in educational centers. However, some polling

sites had to be relocated because of flooding in some municipalities.

Electoral training Training was conducted on the basis of courses taught in Asunción for departmental observers

(judges and heads of registries). They in turn were responsible for selecting persons in each municipality who would participate in a training session is departmental administrative centers (members of citizen boards), who, on returning to their respective municipalities would train poll workers.

Some difficulty was encountered in the training of members of citizen boards in some

municipalities, since they did not respond to the calls of their presidents. This was a source of concern for the Mission since this was an essential link in the organization of the elections. This situation was due, among other things, to the uncertainty regarding the holding of elections on May 10.

Also, the level of participation in the training of poll workers was very low, which led to the fear

that serious difficulties would be encountered during the elections. This situation was discussed with the departmental electoral authorities, who stated that this was normal since these persons would have had experience from previous elections and thus poll workers and members of citizen boards did not see the need to participate in sessions again. In some cases, TSJE observers were sent to speak at training sessions, although this created a certain amount of tension among regional observers, who had attended the training seminar in Asunción and did not understand why the departmental courses were now be taught by other individuals.

In most departments, the other argument advanced was that parties were also providing training

sessions for their followers working at polling stations and for this reason, they did not have to attend both sessions. When the sessions were offered by the party whose members were poll workers, they attended, and if joint sessions were held, these persons stayed away.

Another problem raised was that in the days preceding the elections, the TSJE published several

decisions clarifying doubts regarding the electoral procedures. Due to the lack of time available for these decisions to reach those involved, it was not possible to determine the extent of their effectiveness and whether these instructions were followed consistently.


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Civic education

TSJE civic education was conducted largely through the mass media, by urging citizens to participate. A campaign was also conducted by non-governmental organizations, which produced and distributed civic education material in conjunction with an NGO in each department of the country, together with street activities designed to involve the population in the process.

There were concerns regarding the voting procedure, since several aspects had changed since

the last elections. For example, there were now stamps to mark votes, in order to avoid mistakes that could lead to spoiled ballots; something that could create confusion if the procedure was not well established. Also, the signatures of the members before and of the President of polling stations after marking the ballot was another novelty.

3. Observation of campaign activities

As mentioned earlier, once the regional offices had been set up, one of their tasks was to monitor electoral campaign activities. The campaign started late due to uncertainty regarding the ANR candidacy and other related reasons. Once these matters had been clarified, the electoral campaign started three weeks prior to the elections.

Campaigning took the form of meetings and caravans on the one hand, and, on the other house

to house visits to homes to encourage people to vote for candidates. Also, there were several debates among the candidates of the different political parties at different levels, during which a high level of civic-mindedness and democratic conduct on the part of participants was noted. In addition, all the campaigning that the mass media was supposed to cover was made available, which involved spaces on television, radiobroadcasts, and the print media, although these were not widely used by all the parties.

The campaigning witnessed by this Mission occurred without major incident and civic conduct

was displayed by all the participants, something that avoided incidents and violations. However, during this phase, a number of complaints were filed, which are discussed in Part X of this report. The Mission observed a total of 40 campaign events in national territory, four presidential debates, and two debates of gubernatorial candidates.

4. Transmission of preliminary electoral results Unlike previous occasions, the TSJE decided on the rapid transmission of the preliminary results of the elections for President and Vice President of the Republic. This task was carried out with assistance from the IFES, which was responsible for providing the equipment necessary for this and assisting with the training of personnel to conduct this task. The plan was to have copiers at polling sites, which would receive from polling stations a copy set aside for them beforehand regarding the presidential elections and which would forward this copy to the closest transmission center so that this sheet could be faxed to the TSJE. It was expected that this operation would end at midnight on May 10 with 70% of the total from polling stations, at which time it would be possible to obtain a good enough idea of the results of that election. After a trial run, problems were detected with the copiers, among them, their handling of faxes.


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The Colorado Party was very concerned over this task since no provisions had been made for observation by party poll watchers while it was being conducted, and members argued that this could create problems. They asked the TSJE whether it was possible to choose representatives of the main political parties to witness the forwarding of these copies to the local transmission center and to be at the receiving compound for those results in Asunción in order to verify the validity thereof. This matter was raised with the Mission, which took follow-up action, in conjunction with the TSJE.


PART VII Election day


1. Qualitative and quantitative observation Observation objectives Among the observation objectives, a distinction should be made between “political/electoral” and “technical/electoral” objectives. The first can also be called observation, while the second can be called monitoring. Electoral observation

This section makes the point that presence of observers helps to increase the climate of trust in the electoral process and thus helps people to be able to exercise the right to vote. Also, the presence of observers, requested by the parties involved, serves to facilitate the electoral process when doubts arise in this area.. For this reason, active observation was decided on; that is, observers went to the different polling sites to establish a presence and have the opportunity to speak with the electoral authority, representatives of political parties, and the general population. Electoral monitoring

One aspect of this activity involves monitoring election-related activities of the electoral authorities and political parties. During the pre-electoral phase, the activities of the political parties were monitored insofar as the electoral campaign was concerned and complaints were received so that the procedures used by authorities related follow-up work could be monitored. On election day, checks were done of the opening, work, closing, and vote counting at polling stations. In addition, electoral complaints were received.

The work of observers consisted in arriving at a polling station before the arrival of poll workers (6 a.m.) and monitoring the opening process to see whether this was done in accordance with TSJE provisions. After this, observers visited various polling sites, monitoring voting at their polling stations. To do this, they spoke with officials of the polling site, poll workers, poll watchers, and representatives of political parties, and checked to ensure that the procedures established by law were being followed. They had to arrive at the polling site where the designated polling station was located before 4:00 p.m. in order to observe the quick count sample. If they did not have an assigned polling station, they went to the site designated beforehand by their regional coordinator. If the station was one in the sample group, they recorded the pertinent information related to closing and counting of votes cast for President


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and Vice President. They then went to the place where they could send this information to the operations center at the main office. Once this task was completed, they returned to the closest polling site to obtain information on the results of all elections (President, Senator, Deputy, Governor, and Departmental Board). Here, the task was to collect as much information as possible. Once the polling site closed, observers returned to the regional office and turned in the information on results to their regional coordinator. The rapid vote counting form was also turned in for transmission by fax to the main office. The next day, observers and the coordinator consolidated the information collected on election day on a form, so that one consolidated regional document could be sent to the main office. Once this was done, national results were consolidated for the purpose of obtaining all the observations that were rapidly tabulated. In order to collect this information and quantify it, three forms were designed: for opening; voting and closing; and for quick count (Annex VII, Electoral observation forms). An agreement had been reached with regional coordinators to establish contact four times during the day in order to provide the main office with a clear idea of what was happening at the national level. Contact was established at 7:30 a.m. for opening; at 10 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. for a progress report, and at 4:30 p.m. for closing. In addition, an official was appointed to be in permanent contact with regional offices in order to channel all the relevant information to the Chief of the Mission. Participation by the Secretary General On election morning, the Secretary General toured the different voting centers in Asunción. The centers chosen were representative of the different socio-economic classes in the country and were located in areas with different political leanings. During the afternoon, Cordillera Department was visited to observe the voting process, closing, and the beginning of vote counting in a rural part of the country. During the day, the Secretary General and Chief of Mission maintained contact with international observers, campaign heads of the political organizations, and the electoral authorities. At 9:00 p.m., the Secretary General held a press conference to convey his impressions of election day. Operations centers in Asunción An operations center was set up in Asunción, which was responsible for establishing contact with regional offices and keeping the Chief of Mission informed of the most important events. It was also responsible for receiving the results of the rapid vote counting sample. This center operated from 6:00 a.m. to the end of the day when all the information necessary for the sample had been received and observers had returned to their regional offices. Quick Count A quick count is a statistical process to monitor the official counting of votes in an election. To do this, a sample is needed from polling stations which OAS observers use to verify vote counting and


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thus have first hand information on results. Statistical methods are then used to make a projection on results throughout the country. Official percentages of votes obtained for each candidate are compared with the results of the projection done using the quick count method. A lack of correlation between the results, within a certain margin of error, suggests that problems exist with the official count. It is important to note that the essential function of the quick count method is not to predict who will win an election (although if this were possible it would provide valuable additional information), but to indicate whether the official count is showing suspicious deviations. It is very difficult to know beforehand the margin of error of the projection made using the quick count method, since this information is dependent on specific data related to the elections to be held and on the information collected on election day by observers. However, based on the 1993 elections and the experience of other quick count processes done at other elections, the margin of error is projected to be approximately 3.5%. A sampling process exists, which permits identification of a minor error for the same sample size, known technically as stratified sampling. To use this technique, the population has to be divided into homogenous strata, that is, subgroups of the universe of polling stations must be taken, within which a small variation in the results compared to previous elections is expected. On the other hand, a big variation must be expected among subgroups (strata). The sample used for the Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay had three strata: Asunción, Central, and the rural areas. 2. Election day Coverage by the Mission Geographic coverage took place from regional offices. These offices assigned their observers in such a way as to guarantee their presence at sample polling stations when they closed. Several polling sites were visited in order to establish a presence there and inspire confidence in the process. On election day, the Mission sent out a total of 82 international observers, 60 from the OAS and 22 from the various diplomatic offices who were working with the Mission. The Mission also received assistance from 10 IFES observers (Annex VIII, List of observers). In other words, in order to collect the information on the observation forms, the Mission had a total of 92 international observers. They visited 546 polling sites, the equivalent of 60.5% of the total sites that were operating (901 sites), from which a sample was taken from 1,744 polling stations. No coverage was provided of the Departments of Alto Paraguay, Boquerón, Presidente Hayes, and Ñeembucú due to climate conditions there, which made it impossible to conduct the work properly. Observation of the elections Based on the observation of Mission representatives, voting in the general and departmental elections proceeded normally, peacefully, and in accordance with the stipulations of the electoral authorities. The procedures established for voting were adhered to, in accordance with the provisions of the existing electoral code and the regulatory provisions of the TSJE. At most polling stations, there was strict respect for voting secrecy.


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Security conditions during the elections encouraged confidence and calm. The law and order forces preformed their duties properly, and guaranteed the basic conditions for the free exercise of voting. The specific aspects of the processes related to setting up and opening, voting, closing, and vote counting observed by the representatives of the Mission were the following: Setting up and opening

At 6:00 a.m., poll workers and their alternates were supposed to be at polling sites. If the President or members were not present, they were supposed to be replaced by their respective alternates. If the latter did not show up, the citizen board was supposed to take charge of the setting up of the polling station. Once it was set up, the resources and materials necessary for voting were supposed to be distributed. They were: (1) the ballot box, which was supposed to be sealed and taped and signed by the President and members; (2) a booth; (3) a sufficient number of ballots and other voting materials; (4) a copy of the voter registration list to be displayed for purposes of review by voters; and (5) printed lists with the names of candidates. Later on, the President and voting members were supposed to check the documents of poll watchers. No more than one poll watcher from the same party or alliance could be at the same polling station. During the opening, the Mission was present at a total of 127 polling stations. The following was observed: In general, poll workers showed up at polling sites at the time stipulated in the Electoral Code (6:00 a.m.). However, workers at 25 of the 127 stations visited showed up within the first half an hour. In 91% of the samples obtained, the polling stations were staffed with regular workers who showed up, and in cases where they did not, the polling stations were staffed with substitute workers or following the procedure set forth by law2. However, in all cases, the stations were staffed and in no cases did this situation affect the smooth functioning of the process. In general, the setting process took an average of 45 minutes due to the complexity of the system (particularly the setting up of ballot boxes) and to the lack of familiarity on the part of the staff. Opening proceeded normally and in general, stations opened within the first hour. In some cases, the delay was caused by the late setting up of station, in two cases by the unavailability of poll watchers, and in one case, by the lack of materials (senator ballots). Fifty-five percent of the stations visited opened after the time set forth by law. In general, electoral material arrived at polling sites intact, in good condition, and in the boxes provided by the TSJE. All materials were delivered to polling stations for setting up purposes and in almost all cases (90%), everything was received. Materials that were missing were not essential, and hence this did not affect the smooth operations of the stations.

2 At Polling Station 16 in the Héroes del Chaco School, Encarnación District, for example, the station was staffed only with

members of the Colorado Party.


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Strict compliance with the guidelines and procedures established by the TSJE for setting up and opening was noted at a high percentage (92%) of the polling stations visited. The few errors encountered were the result of uncertainty or a lack of knowledge on the part of workers and did not affect the normal functioning of stations. At all times, workers at the polling stations visited displayed a high level of civic duty and professionalism. At the time of set up and opening of the stations, it was noted that in 83% of the cases, poll watchers from the biggest political parties were present. However, in some cases, Mission observers noted that many of them entered these stations once voting had begun. At almost all the polling stations visited (96%), it was noted that dark rooms were located in such a way as to guarantee strict respect for voting secrecy. However, in some cases, improvisation used in setting up a second dark room, because of a lack of space or resources, compromised voting secrecy.3

Voting At 6:30 p.m., the President and members were supposed to sign the constitution document and then call on the poll watchers present to sign this document, thereby beginning the voting process. Poll workers were supposed to check, first, that voters did not have ink stains on their index fingers and to then proceed to check, using their identification cards, that their names were on the voter list. If the information matched, members were supposed to sign the ballots in the designated space and hand them over to the voter with the stamp so that he could cast his vote. Then the index finger of the voter was supposed to be marked with indelible ink, a note was supposed to be made on the voter list that he had cast his vote, and he was supposed to be provided with proof of this. During the Mission, a total of 1,744 polling stations were visited, that is, 17% of the total polling stations at the national level. During these visits, the following was noted: During the voting process, at 97% of the stations visited, both party poll watchers and voters waiting in line did not engage in campaign activities or try to influence anyone to vote. Because of this, no incidents were noted during the process and the free access of voters to exercise their right to vote was respected. At a small number of voting stations visited, campaign activities were noted inside polling sites.4

In general, political parties refrained from engaging in political propaganda in the vicinity of polling sites, as stipulated in the electoral law (200 meters). However, representatives of the Mission noted that in some cases, vehicles belonging to the major political parties with electoral propaganda were close to the entrance of polling sites. This situation did not prompt any complaints from the political parties or interfere with the smooth functioning of the elections.

3

At polling station 12 in the San Antonio school in the Colonel Oviedo district, for example, a room was prepared in which two persons were allowed to enter at the same time to vote. 4 At the Delfin Chamorro College, in Tebicuary District, Guairá Department, an ANR activist was seen conducting “orientation

activities” as voters waited on line.


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In most cases, strict compliance was noted with the guidelines and procedures established by law with respect to poll workers. The mistakes noted stemmed from uncertainty regarding the handling new techniques, to unawareness, in some cases, of most recent decisions issued by the TSJE, and to the complexity of the system itself. This resulted in delays at the beginning of the day, although the problems were solved as time went by. However, at no time did these situations affected the smooth functioning of the process. For example, at 99 percent of the stations visited by Mission representatives, officials were seen signing the back of each ballots and the President was signing or handing over these ballots to voters after they had voted.5 At 98% of the polling stations, officials turned over the voting document, 94% marked the voter registration lists after the voter had cast his vote, and in 99% of the cases, the voter’s index finger was immersed in indelible ink and voters whose names did not appear on the voter registration list were not allowed to vote. It was also noted that everyone whose name appeared on this list was allowed to vote. In terms of the progress of the electoral process, during the visit of Mission representatives to polling stations, it was noted that in 97% of the cases, this process was very smooth and civic conduct and a democratic spirit were displayed. However, a number of violations were noted among some representatives and Presidents of polling stations, together with delays in voting because only one room was available and because of tardiness by poll workers in carrying out their duties. As a result, at some polling stations, changes were made at times, although the process was never completely paralyzed. Despite rumors of possible incidents during the elections, Mission observers noted that in 99% of the polling stations visited, the process took place in an atmosphere of total tranquility and harmony. With regard to security, as mentioned earlier, due to fact that the law and order forces performed their duty, no security problem of any kind that affected the smooth progress of the elections was noted at any time. Closing At 4:00 p.m., the President was supposed to declare voting over. If there were voters on line, the President was supposed to pick up their identification cards and allow them to vote, and to turn away persons who arrived after that. After that, poll workers and poll watchers were supposed to vote, by placing their registration number and municipality to which they belonged on the special lists. Representatives were supposed to vote at the last polling station of the polling site. Once they were finished, they were supposed to note on the voter registration form the number of persons listed who had voted and have officials, poll watchers, and representatives who wished to do so sign the list. The Mission observed the closing of 55 polling stations. In general, the process proceeded smoothly and in accordance with the guidelines established by law.

5

At one polling site in Canindeyú Department, officials were seen signing ballots after voters had cast their vote, before the President signed.


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In 68% of the cases observed by Mission representatives, polling stations closed at the time stipulated by law. However, a few stations did not close until after 7:00 p.m. due to the large number of voters on line. In such cases, people were permitted to vote at most polling stations visited (78%), after which poll workers and party poll watchers voted. In the case of the latter, it was observed that at some polling stations, poll workers voted before and during the process because they did not know the procedure or because this was convenient for them. Important matters Except in some of the bigger urban areas, where provisions were made from the outset for second dark rooms, in rural districts in general, these rooms were set up on an as needed basis. In many instances, this led to delays in voting and the improvised setting up of these rooms in some places, which compromised voting secrecy. The high percentage of voters who showed up was undoubtedly one of the most significant aspects of the day. This was clearly observed in the early hours of the morning in the crowds of voters at polling sites. The complexity of the system, tardiness of poll workers in performing their duties, the delay of voters in sealing ballots (an average of six minutes in rural areas and four minutes in urban areas per voter) led to long lines in front of polling stations. However, voters waited patiently and good naturedly, thereby demonstrating their commitment to democracy. 3. Vote counting

Vote counting is public. Once voting ends, voting counting is supposed to begin. The President is supposed to indicate the distance that people are to remain from the polling station. Once this is done, the seal is supposed to be broken and the ballots placed in the ballot boxes counted. If there are any that are different or unsigned by the President and members, they must be immediately disposed of. Then a check must be done of whether the number of ballots and number of voters are identical. If they are fewer, this must be recorded, if they are more, the extra number must be destroyed without opening the ballots. Next, the ballots must be placed in the ballot boxes again and the President must take them out and unfold them one by one and declare the result. The total number of votes for each position is then added. Immediately afterwards, the vote counting document must be published. After this, certificates containing the results must be turned over to poll watchers and the press. Finally, the President has to deliver the electoral file to officials of the citizen board.

The Mission directly observed vote counting at a total of 55 polling stations. The following was

noted: In general, the vote counting process proceeded in a calm and transparent manner. No

incidents that affected the normal functioning of the process were noted and at most polling stations observed (96%), party poll watchers were present during this phase of the process. Party poll watchers from the Democratic Alliance were, for the most part, the ones most often absent.


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At 77% of the polling stations observed, the number of ballots placed in ballot boxes matched the number of voters who voted at polling stations. In the case where the numbers did not match, Mission officials verified that in 93% of the cases, poll workers had followed the procedures established by law. Vote count forms were filled out and signed by poll workers and poll watchers at 94% of the polling stations visited by Mission observers. At 96% of the polling stations monitored, electoral material was packed in three corresponding envelopes. In order to transfer the materials, representatives accompanied officials of the citizen board.

4. Rapid transmission of preliminary results With assistance from the IFES, the TSJE established a system for the rapid transmission of preliminary results for the Presidential and Vice Presidential positions. This consisted of obtaining from each polling station a copy of the election results and sending it to a transmission center so that it could be faxed to the TSJE. There, this information was supposed to be entered in a computer system in order to obtain advance information on the presidential results at the national level. This information was constantly being updated and immediately entered on the Tribunal’s Web page. Certificates for preliminary results were turned over to intermediaries in 48 of the 55 stations monitored (87% of the stations where observation took place) and transferred to transmission centers that were established beforehand by the TSJE. The transmission process of certificates from transmission centers to the TSJE data processing centers was smooth, regular, and transparent, although a bit slow. Transmission in most departments began around 6:00 p.m. on May 10. The situation at the Asunción transmission center was as follows: at 9:00 p.m. on May 10, the Mission verified that, despite the fact that faxes with results were arriving, the system was not functioning well since only 5 of the 20 computers were working. At 10:00 p.m., an incident occurred which change the atmosphere. It pertained to a press statement made by a TSJE director, who stated that the information in 80% of the faxes received was inaccurate. These statements were inappropriate and ill-timed since later on they were proved to be untrue. The High Court ordered the continuation of the computational work, which ended at 4:00 a.m. and resumed at 11:00 a.m. The rapid transmission process of preliminary results ended at approximately 7:00 p.m. on May 11. 5. Delivery and receipt of electoral material The citizen board of each municipality was responsible for delivering three electoral files: one to the electoral registry, and two for the files of the electoral court of the jurisdiction in question. The judge, in turn, was responsible for sending the files to the appropriate Electoral Tribunal.

The process of transfer, delivery, and receipt of electoral files ended in most departments on May 11. Proper oversight was provided during all phases by the representatives of political parties.


PART VIII Post-electoral Phase


1. The calculation of results by electoral tribunals

Once the files were received by the courts of the electoral tribunals, they were supposed to verify that they were in proper condition and tally the votes received, in the presence of representatives of parties, political movements, and alliances. This calculation was supposed to begin at 7:00 a.m. on May 11, and continue until all the tallying had been done from all polling stations in the district of each electoral tribunal. Once this had been completed, the electoral tribunal was supposed to do the definitive or provisional tally, as appropriate, and breakdown the results by positions and lists of candidates.

To perform this task, three working groups were formed, with one being headed by each

tribunal head. However, not all the tribunals proceeded in this manner.6 In general, the process was delayed because in some departments, the system made an error by failing to record spoiled and blank votes. This matter was quickly resolved when technicians were sent by the TSJE to each department.

The process of entering information on documents into the system was slow (lack of human and

technical resources), but proceeded very transparently and smoothly, in keeping with the guidelines established by the law and in the presence of representatives from the ANR in all cases, and from the Democratic Alliance, in others. However, members of the Guairá and Caazapá tribunal decided to begin with Caazapá department before finishing with the former, in order to make the process more efficient. Despite the fact that this decision was not in keeping with TSJE guidelines, it did not lead to any complaints by the political parties.

During this phase, representatives from the Mission checked the information received at polling

stations with the documents used by the Electoral Tribunal to calculate the total territory for which it was responsible. During this partial verification, where a sample of 219 polling stations were used, the documents matched, in most cases, the information collected by observers. However, in some cases, small arithmetical errors were detected which were corrected by the tribunals, without affecting the results of each election.

The security measures adopted by the TSJE to avoid corruption of the results contained in the

records precluded any handling of them, thereby making the system more secure, transparent and reliable. For example, ballots were stamped (perforated) with the TSJE acronym and with a design

6

At the Guariá and Caazapá tribunal, for example, only two working groups were formed.


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(mushroom or star) to avoid falsification. Also, to avoid double voting, a seal with predetermined marks and an inkpad were used to mark the ballots, instead of traditional pencils. Also, the documents from the polling stations were supposed to contain: (1) a seal of the electoral justice system applied with ink of a special color; (2) the perforated TSJE seal; and (3) a bar code, with a security digit generated from an algorithm designed by the Data Processing Office, placed on each sheet, which identified the electoral domicile of the documents (department, district, site, and polling station number). 2. Receipt of results by the TSJE

Flow of information Based on the legislation currently in force, the receipt of results falls under the jurisdiction for electoral judges. However, the flow of information begins in citizen boards and they are responsible for turning documents over to judges, who in turn hand them over to the Electoral Tribunals, the entities responsible for the provisional tally. Once this has been completed, the results are turned over to the TSJE for tallying and final decisions on the elections (Annex IX, Flowchart). The TSJE received all its provisional results between May 12 and 15, and although the process was slow because of the number of envelopes that had to be received and checked, the procedure was smooth, peaceful, and transparent. 3. Protests As mentioned earlier, from May 11, electoral tribunals did a provisional or final tally, as appropriate, indicating the number of votes obtained according to each list during each election, together with the spoiled and blank ballots, and decision made by polling stations authorities. In addition, they received the complaints filed by representatives of political parties during this phase of the process, and forwarded them to the TSJE. Based on the information obtained by the Mission, 121 protests were filed on election day; 25 in the capital and 98 in the Central department, for the various elections. Four were filed in Caaguazú Department, two in Concepción Department, and two in San Pedro Department, for all positions, with none being filed in the other departments. Also, after the elections, the political parties reported a series of incidents discovered during the provisional tallying which led them to challenge the elections that had taken place in several departments and to question the composition of polling stations. For example, the Democratic Alliance asked the TSJE to challenge, on a provisional basis, all the electoral documents in the Department of Amambay, and the results of the elections in Paraguarí, Alto Paraguay, Alto Paraná, Asunción, Itapuá, and Central Departments, among others. All these challenges were processed by the TSJE and resolved during the ruling phase, although they were not filed in the proper manner or within the required time period. In accordance with legal provisions, decisions were made regarding incidents reported that pertained to the general and departmental elections by TSJE members between May 25 and June 1. According the TSJE, it submitted 55 files for review together with the documents related to the incidents cited at different polling stations, various notes submitted by the electoral tribunal of Misiones Department, and a note from the Data Processing Office submitting 172 vote count forms that were not


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completed. Moreover, the TSJE established four basic criteria for decision-making regarding incidents reported: (1) no follow-up work would be done on general incidents reported which failed to provide specific information that could change the results appearing on the vote count forms; (2) in the event of discrepancy with the results certificates, the vote count forms would prevail; (3) when verification of the situations described in the report conflicted with the reality, they would be dismissed; and (4) if the replacement of members of a polling station affected one person only, with no impact on the vote count form, the incident would be rejected in-limine. Based on these criteria and the detailed review of almost 200 incidents reported, the TSJE accepted 75 cases. In six cases, they nullified all the elections at the polling station, in four, they nullified various elections, and in the remainder, they simply corrected the results. The other incidents reported were dismissed.

Based on this, the Democratic Alliance filed an unconstitutionality suit with the Supreme Court regarding TSJE rulings on the incidents reported, in particular, the decision affecting Asunción and the Departments of Alto Paraná and Alto Paraguay, on grounds of denial of the legitimate right to defense, due process, and equality among the parties, since, in their view, it did not have sufficient opportunity to review the electoral files and irregularities pertaining to the procedure for replacement of poll workers. Moreover, the Democratic Alliance viewed the TSJE ruling as arbitrary, since it had not provided grounds for dismissing the incidents reported.

4. Calculation of results by the TSJE Once the vote count forms were received from the electoral tribunals, the TSJE was supposed to do a final count for the positions of President and Vice President of the Republic and Senator, and check the records relating to departmental positions. This phase was conducted on June 2, proceeded smoothly, and was carried out very quickly by TSJE officials and in the presence of representatives of the political parties. Based on the observations of the representatives of the Mission, no problems of any kind were noted. However, it should be pointed out that a few days before this phase started, the general representative of the Colorado Party filed a claim with the TSJE on grounds of lack of specific guidelines regarding the way in which the final vote count would take place. Although the TSJE did not make a formal ruling on this matter, the representatives of the Colorado Party stated that they agreed with the final decision made by the TSJE regarding the procedure for conducting this activity.

The procedure adopted by the TSJE, since no regulations exist in this regard, consisted of adding the variation in the results and the documents in which the numbers had not been tallied, and in subtracting the counts from the stations where balloting had been invalidated, based on the document containing the ruling on the incidents reported, with respect to the provisional calculation done by the departmental tribunals, thereby making the process more efficient. It is important to note that initially, the TSJE was considering rechecking the calculations of each polling station, but that idea was rejected after several days of talks between the judges and political parties. Modifications to vote count forms during this phase did not significantly change the results of the elections or the distribution of positions in any of the departments.


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The results of the final tally for the presidential elections were as follows: 887,196 votes for the Colorado Party (55.35%), 703,379 votes for the Democratic Alliance (43.88%), 8,139 for the Febrerista Party (.51%), and 4,192 for the Blanco Party (.26%) (Annex X, Results). 5. Announcement of candidates

On June 10, as stipulated in current legislation, the TSJE solemnly announced the candidates elected to the positions of President and Vice President of the Republic and Senator. The atmosphere was festive, harmonious, and marked by a display of civic conduct. The appropriate electoral tribunals of each department were responsible for announcement of officials elected to the departmental positions, and this was done between June 11 and 22.


PART IX Analysis of the results


1. Quick count results

The results obtained from the quick count done by the OAS are provided below. It is important to note that reliability of 95% or 99% is valid for each of the separate estimates (that is, per individual result). It is not valid globally for all the estimates done at once.

Point estimation, error, and confidence interval of the percentage of votes for President Reliability: 95% Percentage Lower Upper Error Party of votes limit limit (%) COLORADO 58.2 55.5 60.9 2.7 DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 40.9 38.3 43.6 2.7 REV. FEBRERISTA 0.7 0.5 0.9 0.2 BLANCO 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1 Blank votes 0.8 0.6 1.0 0.2 Spoiled ballots 2.0 1.6 2.4 0.4 Votes not cast 19.6 18.4 20.8 1.2 Point estimation, error, and confidence interval of the percentage of votes for President Reliability: 99% Percentage Lower Upper Error Party of votes limit limit (%) COLORADO 58.2 54.7 61.7 3.5 DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE 40.9 37.5 44.4 3.5 REV. FEBRERISTA 0.7 0.4 0.9 0.3 BLANCO 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1 Blank votes 0.8 0.5 1.1 0.3 Spoiled ballots 2.0 1.4 2.6 0.6 Votes not cast 19.6 18.0 21.2 1.6

In general, these results matched the quick count done by SAKÃ since the results published by

them were 53.2% for the ANR, 43.06% for the Democratic Alliance, 0.50% for the Febrerista Party, and 0.18 % for the Blanco Party, with 1.79% of the ballots being spoiled and 0.95% blank, something


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that further confirmed the accuracy of the sample taken by the OAS and the reliability of the system used.

2. Reaction to the results

Once the elections were over and the results of the quick count by SAKÃ and the partial TSJE

results publicized, in general, the main political parties accepted the accuracy of the results and noted the good climate in which the elections were held. The Alliance presidential candidate declared himself the winner of the elections, despite the fact that this was prohibited, even when unofficial results were not favorable to him and the TSJE had received only 10% of the vote count documents. This declaration temporarily generated suspicions and doubts regarding the reliability of vote counting. As a result, a few hours later, this same candidate accepted the results and ruled out the possibility of fraud mentioned, based on information provided by the Director of the Electoral Registry indicating that 80% of the certificates had been falsified. Although this did not have any serious repercussions, this attitude on the part of the Alliance led to the filing of a complaint by the Colorado Party against it, which was referred by the TSJE to the criminal justice system (at the time of preparation of this report, the justice system had not handed down a ruling with respect to this complaint).


PART X Complaints


1. Legal framework

In accordance with the law governing the Electoral Code, the electoral justice system is responsible for hearing disputes related to general, departmental, and municipal elections, various types of public issues provided for in the Constitution, and the violations described in the Electoral Code. For practical purposes, the electoral justice system is divided into three entities: a high court of the electoral justice system, electoral tribunals, and electoral courts.

Appeals can be filed with the appropriate judges or tribunals. Motions for appeal, nullity, and

complaints for denial of an appeal or delayed justice can be filed with respect to the decisions handed down by judges and electoral tribunals. However, only appeals for unconstitutionality can be filed with respect to decisions handed down by the TSJE.

With respect to complaints relating to electoral violations set forth in the law, electoral judges

are supposed to conduct preliminary investigations and apply the appropriate sanctions. Complaints regarding electoral offenses fall under the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system, and therefore proceedings for electoral offenses are held in the regular justice system, in accordance with the regulations of the electoral justice system.

2. Pre-electoral phase

Appeals Appeals filed pertained largely to the staffing of polling stations and stemmed from the handling by judges of the issue of alliances, which involved the Democratic Alliance represented by the parties of which it was comprised. This meant that the ANR, PLRA, and PEN were represented at polling stations. In this regard, the ANR filed several appeals with electoral judges, which were rejected by electoral tribunals. In this regard, in some departments, the ANR requested the removal of electoral judges. In all instances, the requests for removal were rejected by the electoral tribunals. Furthermore, the ANR filed an appeal in Caaguazú against a decision related to the accreditation of PLRA and PEN representatives. The electoral tribunal rejected the appeal on grounds that it was time-barred.


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Complaints regarding the voter registration list Prior to the elections, the National Republican Association (ANR) filed the following claims directly with the TSJC regarding the voter registration list: § Persons appearing on the voter registration list who had no address 1,006,557 § Challenges and claims 140,000 § Persons resident abroad 74,682 § Dispersion of voters7 80,612 § Groups of five or more persons at the same address8 210,392 § Persons registered in 1996 who were not listed as eligible on the 35,464

1998 voter registration list

All the claims filed by the ANR were rejected by the TSJE and Directors of the Electoral Registry and Data Processing.

The response of the TSJE to these situations were the following: (1) The cases referred involved

1996 registrations, and addresses were not indicated because they corresponded to companies or areas that were undeveloped at that time. The number provided by the ANR is much lower than the number that it mentioned; (2) the total number of incidents reported is 3,064 and total claims, 16,345. Some cases involved name changes since a check was done of the Department of Identification’s data base, or re-registration by the citizen himself in 1997. Other cases involved changes in dates of birth, where registration corresponded to another citizen with the same identification card number and others because of confirmed deaths; (3) two registers were found with the same data, as a result of which the number of persons resident abroad is 49,732. Only in 20 cases was there proof of residence in Argentina; in the remainder, the claims could not be proven. Due to the fact that no official register exists of residents abroad, it is impossible to do a screening at this time. The information turned in contained duplicated information, which was not taken into account; (4) the cases of dispersion analyzed were found to involve persons who had re-registered in 1997 because of a change of residence. The final registration is the one that is valid; (5) the addresses checked corresponded to companies or neighborhoods; (6) registrations for 1996 that were not listed as valid for 1998 involved mainly cases of registration more than once with the same identification number, cases where the identification number does not exist in the identifications data base, or cases where the ballot was different from the identifications information or because the person was a minor.

7

This refers to all citizens who did not re-register in the 1997 period. According to the TSJE Chief of archives, transfers were done by the individuals in question. 8

This covers all the departments that were taken as samples and where addresses reported as identical indicate the same company or neighborhood. In very few cases were specific addresses found such as a street name or house number.


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Other complaints Between May 1 and 9, 1998, 12 formal complaints were filed with the electoral justice system. Among them was the change in the electoral registry without the appropriate authorization, the destruction of electoral campaign material, and the purchase of identification cards (Annex XI, Table of complaints and protests). In should be noted that in many cases, the matter was resolved by the parties by mutual agreement. For example, in Caaguazú Department, where charges were made of the systematic destruction of the electoral campaign material, the Electoral Judge brought the parties together, along with other political organizations, for a hearing aimed at settling the matter. As a result of this, an agreement was signed by the parties in the presence of OAS observers. 3. Election day

Mission representatives received four complaints on election day, which largely pertained to the following: (1) voters appearing at the polls with a false identification cards; (2) refusal of the director of the polling site to set up second dark rooms; (3) discovery of official ballots for the election of President and Vice President being handled by an individual; (4) inability to exercise the right to vote.

Moreover, on election day, the ANR representative filed a formal complaint against the

Democratic Alliance presidential candidate with the second rota electoral judge in the capital for the commission of serious electoral offenses, linked to press statements made by the liberal candidate at 1:00 p.m. claiming victory based on exit polls conducted.

Based on the follow-up work done by the Mission, this complaint, like the other complaints

related to electoral offenses filed during this phase, was submitted to the regular criminal justice system and is in the preliminary investigative phase.

4. Post-electoral period

After the elections, no complaints or protests were received at the central office or regional offices of the electoral observation mission. Furthermore, no complaints were filed with the electoral justice system. During this phase, the Mission focused on follow-up work related to the complaints filed on election day, in particular the complaint against the Democratic Alliance candidate.


PART XI Conclusions and recommendations


The 1998 electoral process in Paraguay faithfully attested to the development of the democratic institutions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches that provided support during each phase of the elections, within a constitutional framework and within the time period stipulated by law. The Mission would like to congratulate TSJE officials on their work in terms of the organization and management of the May 10, 1998 elections. In the opinion of the Electoral Observation Mission, the results issued by the TSJE faithfully mirror the popular will of the Paraguayan people. Moreover, every citizen who was interested in and motivated to vote was able to do so without any major administrative problems or other pressures. The political parties also played a positive role in the electoral process, by making sure that their followers voted and by respecting the rights of their opponents to express their choice through the ballot. Electoral participation, which exceeded 80 per cent, was due in large measure to the efforts of political parties. Although the electoral process started late because of uncertainty, the campaign was characterized by civic conduct and the almost complete absence of violence. The Mission also recognized the valuable support of the Executive Branch in providing the resources necessary and of the Judicial Branch in making timely decisions that clarified electoral issues for the holding of elections. More important, however, is our gratitude to the Paraguayan people who showed up in massive numbers at the polls and displayed civic conduct, something that represents a model for the other countries of the Hemisphere. Paraguayans demonstrated faith in the democratic system and their interest in the future of the country. The Mission would like to take this opportunity to offer a few suggestions based on the work done by Mission observers, in order to improve the electoral system in the country. Moreover, it hopes that the suggestions are taken in the constructive spirit in which they are offered. (1) Structure of the electoral justice system: The appointment of officials of the electoral justice system

should be separated from political parties so that in future, these persons are merely officials, since the current structure of the electoral authorities creates certain doubts regarding the ability to actually perform one’s duties on the one hand, and act in an objective manner, on the other. It would be good to make plans to divide the judicial and administrative parts of the electoral system.


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(2) Staffing of polling stations: The handling of electoral alliances should be regulated in the Electoral Code so as not to leave it up to the electoral judge to make decisions on this matter.

(3) Training of poll workers: A mechanism should be sought for achieving greater effectiveness in training poll workers, in order to avoid uncertainty regarding the level of training obtained. If the system of appointment of poll workers proposed by political parties continues, better coordination with these parties is recommended in order to avoid the duplication of efforts and save resources. If an electoral judge is responsible for this appointment, training should be mandatory so as to ensure better attendance of courses and that members receive the best training possible.

(4) Security of ballots: the system of signing by polling station officials should be eliminated, and this

should be the sole responsibility of the President of the station. Replacement of this system by a security mechanism for ballots is recommended, in order to avoid falsification, through the use of bar codes or security paper, in order to expedite the voting process and provide greater security guarantees.

(5) Transmission of preliminary results: In future elections, the system of rapid transmission of

preliminary results should be eliminated. In this regard, the TSJE could explore the possibility of implementing a system that permits access to official preliminary results as soon as possible, and discontinuing the “quick count” process, in order to avoid suspicions that could affect the transparency of the process.

The Mission noted that the electoral justice system did not have the human and material resources necessary to implement correctly the system of rapid transmission of results. For example, the TSJE only had a small number of fax machines to receive preliminary results in Asunción. To remedy this problem and other shortcomings, the TSJE sought ad hoc solutions, which ended up creating doubts regarding the accuracy and timeliness of this process. Young volunteers were responsible for the transfer of “certificates,” and unlike paid electoral officials, they did not make a commitment to remain at their positions until vote counting was over. In addition, many electoral officials and representatives of political parties did not have the information necessary to facilitate and oversee the rapid transmission of results. Due to this series of problems, in particular the alleged existence of documents falsified by an electoral official, rapid transmission results were never publicly announced by the TSJE.

(6) Appeals: An appeals mechanism should be introduced, which permits political parties to challenge or review elections before an authority that is higher than polling stations, in order to make them more transparent and impartial.

(7) TSJE internal communication channels: More effective channels of communication should be

established between the different levels and units of the electoral justice system, in order to ensure that decisions reached are communicated quickly to distant municipalities.

(8) Budget: A mechanism should be sought for managing, in a timely fashion, the necessary financial

and human resources going from the Executive to the TSJE and from the TSJE to other entities of the electoral justice system with a view to better performance of their functions.


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(9) Electoral Registry offices: Electoral registry offices should be improved, by providing them with greater infrastructure and means of communication.

(10) Data processing system: The data processing system of the electoral justice system should be

modernized at all levels, in order to transmit, as rapidly and safely as possible, results and provisional calculations by departmental electoral tribunals.

(11) Final count: Regulations should be established for the final calculation of results, so that persons

involved in the process may be aware of these regulations beforehand, thereby making the electoral process more transparent and reliable.


PART XII Annexes

Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay 1998On August 19, 1997, the Government of Paraguay,...

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Transcript of Electoral Observation Mission in Paraguay 1998On August 19, 1997, the Government of Paraguay,...