Electoral law specialist questioned the role of the TSE in curbing illegal propaganda, abuse of power and party interference in the ballot.
The Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) ended this Thursday the final scrutiny process with the processing of 100% of the acts of the three elections: Legislative Assembly, Parlacen and municipal councils.
El Diari d’Avui spoke with lawyer Ruth Eleonora López, an expert in electoral law, to find out
their assessment of this process.
Was the election schedule met?
The legal deadlines were respected, but not the administrative ones, which sometimes depend on external actors. However, when the time came, everything was ready.
How do you assess the work of the TSE in the recently concluded elections?
The TSE continues to demonstrate the ability of its technical plant to organize and execute an electoral process. As for the control function and the fairness guarantees of the contest, they left a lot to be desired. There was progress in terms of intervention in resources presented on the processes of internal democracy of the parties, especially to ensure the participation of candidates.
However there was a lack of control over illegal propaganda out of time, carried out by actors excluded by law, those carried out by officials taking advantage of the charge or government propaganda in the period of prohibition. The quorums for decisions regulated in the Electoral Code for the resolution of appeals were not respected either.
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What do you think were the challenges facing the TSE for this election?
Execute a process in pandemic, low credibility, little cohesion of the electoral body and little exercise of the powers of control.
What did you think of the use of technology in this election?
The use of technology was optimal in more than 96% of the tables according to the transmission of results. It never reaches 100%. The TSE should evaluate sites where there were training errors and improve them for the following processes. However, the electoral law expert believes that the Government “had an abusive performance” in the iron propaganda during the electoral silence. “The TSE did its job and passed the election examination in an excellent way.”
Was it verified that there was no fraud?
Electoral fraud has two perspectives, an individual connotation regulated in the Penal Code and the electoral administration as the possibility of changing a result from the conduct of an actor in the process (the electoral administration itself or the contenders -parties or applications).
From the criminal point of view, the Attorney General announced that some processes were being followed under the commission of this crime. From an electoral point of view, the TSE showed how it was not possible for the electoral administration to influence a change in results. However, I can say that there were systematic acts of contenders to irregularly affect the will of the electorate, through negative propaganda or the financing of candidacies with the use of public media.
How did you see the participation of political parties in the electoral process?
There were parties that repeatedly disrespected the rules of contention and candidacies. Mario Durán began campaigning abroad a month before the permitted period and on social media or even talking, as did Ernesto Muyshondt (mayor of San Salvador) and Aubuisson (mayor of Santa Tecla).
What is your opinion on the participation of the Executive in the process?
The Executive had an abusive action, violated each of the electoral bans on the election campaign. He behaved like an actor in the fight, a reflection of a leading and authoritarian model disrespecting the rules of the process.
What do you mean by becoming an actor in the process and why is this negative?
Article 172 of the Electoral Code recognizes the right of electoral propaganda to parties and candidates. While the N and Win campaign strategy focused on the president, neither the Executive nor the President were candidates or parties.
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What do you think of the TSE’s performance in the final scrutiny?
TSE’s action was unconstitutional, first because the Chamber in Judgment 139-2013 was clear in establishing that electoral bodies cannot be constituted by representatives of political parties, second because Art 209 Cn states that no no party or coalition of parties can predominate and in this decision TSE not only integrated the tables with party representatives giving them the power to carry out the final scrutiny but also did not respect the integration from the existing coalitions .
What do you think are the challenges for the next election?
The poor electoral and democratic formation of the population, and this is a responsibility of the electoral authority that must implement strategies with the MINED to achieve this, as well as create habitual spaces for exchange with the population.
As long as the citizen does not identify the violations of the electoral regulation cannot demand for them, as long as he does not know the implications of his vote he will not grant it consciously, as long as he does not know why we have to prevent the illegal financing. their right to choose freely is being violated.
Any news on this process?
Technology, leaving behind the stories of branding and acts on chemical paper. As well as biosecurity measures.
How do you evaluate the electoral process compared to the previous ones?
This was a much more successful process than its 2015 and 2018 counterparts, progress with TSE’s own resources and programs is unobjectionable. While some were betting on failure to delegitimize the referee, TTS staff did their homework and passed the exam excellently. And I’m not saying perfect, because it wasn’t. These points of improvement must be taken advantage of by the following processes especially 2024, in which it is a complex process by the included modalities of voting and to imply a general election.
What do you think are the challenges for the next election?
The poor electoral and democratic formation of the population, and this is a responsibility of the electoral authority
that it must implement strategies with MINED to achieve this, as well as create habitual spaces for exchange with the population.
As long as the citizen does not identify the violations of the electoral regulation cannot demand for them, as long as he does not know the implications of his vote he will not grant it consciously, as long as he does not know why we have to prevent the illegal financing. their right to choose freely is being violated.