The Supreme Electoral Court
The Supreme Electoral Court, the
Tribunal Supremo Electoral (TSE) is the highest administrative and judicial
authority with respect to electoral matters. Among its competencies, it has the
exclusive responsibility to call for and organise electoral processes, declaring
the results and the validity of elections, as well as deciding on complaints,
appeals and attributing positions to elected candidates. The TSE is a permanent
organ of the State.
Three of the five TSE Magistrates are proposed by the
political parties that have obtained the largest number of votes in the previous
presidential elections. The other two Magistrates are proposed by the Supreme
Court of Justice (the Corte Suprema de Justicia). Each of the Magistrates has a
Substitute Magistrate that is selected according to the same procedures. The
Magistrate who holds the Presidency of the TSE belongs to the party that won the
previous presidential elections, ARENA in this case. The Magistrates are
appointed for a five-year mandate. At present, the parties represented in the
TSE are ARENA, FMLN and the Partido de
Conciliación Nacional (PCN). The TSE is independent and its
budget is determined and managed by the Legislative Assembly.
Decisions at the TSE are taken by absolute majority, however; more recently,
this formula has been altered; decisions can now be taken with simple
majorities.
The Legislative Assembly approved a
budget of 14,846,380.00 USD for the organisation of the
upcoming elections.
The electoral administration is composed of the following bodies:
14 Departmental Electoral Boards (Juntas Electorales Departamentales
-JED) (Art.109 CE).
262 Municipal Electoral Boards (Juntas Electorales Municipales -JEM)
(Art.113 CE).
9,534 Polling Stations (Juntas Receptoras de
Votos -JRV) (Art.117 CE).
The Municipal and Departmental Electoral Boards are temporary
bodies, responsible for the electoral process in their respective areas
of jurisdiction. They are established in the corresponding departmental or
municipal headquarters. The JEDs are established at least three months before
Election day, whereas the JEMs are set-up at least two months prior to the date
of the elections.
The Boards are composed of five members - President, Secretary, First, Second
and Third Officer, - four of which are proposed by the political parties that
obtained the largest number of votes in the previous elections. The fifth member
is chosen by drawing lots from among the other parties that are participating in
the elections.
The Boards' decisions are taken by a
majority vote of its members.
The responsibilities of the JEDs include: the setting-up of the JEMs, managing
the register for the inscription of Municipal Council candidates, receiving the
protocols and documents forwarded by the JEMs to be passed on in turn to the
TSE; aggregating the departmental provisional election results, as well as
receiving the suggestions and complaints of political party
representatives.
The responsibilities of the JEMs
include: selecting and appointing JRV members; selecting and publicising the
location of Polling Centres (Centros de Votación); handing over to JRV
Presidents the necessary materials and documents for the electoral process;
receiving the protocols and documents forwarded by the JRVs; drafting a general
preliminary municipal protocol of results to be presented to the TSE as well as
receiving the suggestions and complaints of political party
representatives
As a general rule of thumb, Polling Centres and JRVs are set-up solely in the
urban areas of each department's municipalities. In 2006, the TSE initiated its
first decentralised voting experiment ("residential vote" or voto residencial,
as it is known) in seven municipalities around the country, with the goal of
bringing JRVs closer to the citizens. The seven chosen municipalities were
Turín in the Ahuachapan Department; El Paisnal in the San Salvador
Department; Nuevo Cuscatlán in the La Libertad Department; San Juan
Nonualco in the La Paz Department; Tecapan in the San Vicente Department;
Carolina in the San Miguel Department and Meanguera del Golfo in the La
Unión Department.
For the 2009 elections, the TSE decided to go ahead with its project of
JRV decentralisation and, to this end, this process will be
carried out in the entire Cuscatlán Department. In this department, the
number of Polling Centres will be increased, from 18 to 72. The TSE is aiming to
apply this project to all of the country's departments for the 2012
elections.
The TSE establishes a General Plan for Elections, the Plan General de
Elecciones (PLAGEL), for every electoral event. On this
occasion, this document encompasses twelve programs, focusing on three main
areas. The first area relates to the manner in which the electoral process will
be organised; the second on how civic information will be provided to the
citizenry; and the third area focuses on programs linked to the implementation
and the results of the upcoming electoral
events.
The Electoral
Register
The Padrón Electoral is
the Electoral Register that the TSE compiles based on the registration of
citizens that reside in each municipality. Obtaining a National Identification
Card (Documento Único de Identidad -DUI) is the prerequisite for
registration in any particular municipality. The National Civil Registry
(Registro Nacional de la Persona Natural) is responsible for issuing, renewing
and replacing the aforementioned identification cards.
The TSE opened up a period for the inclusion and update of citizens to the
Voters' List, which was closed on 19th September 2008. Citizens can
verify the veracity of their details and request whatever correction of errors
or omissions they consider pertinent when the preliminary Electoral Register is
published at the beginning of each electoral period. Once the Electoral Register
is finally closed, no further changes or corrections are
permitted.
Once the register is in
the TSE's hands, this body is responsible for making the Electoral
Register known to the public throughout all the levels of the electoral
administration, thus allowing voters to confirm the specific location where they
are meant to cast their ballot. The Electoral Register is a public document and
can therefore be consulted by any political or citizens' organisation. The TSE
handed-out copies of the Electoral Register to the political organisations that
were participating in the elections.
The TSE
informed that 4,266,479 citizens were registered to vote in
these elections.
Electoral Review Board
Political
Parties are entitled to monitor electoral processes at every stage. The
Electoral Review Board (Junta de Vigilancia Electoral - JVE) is a reflection of
this right. The Board is composed of one representative from each of the
political parties (Art.130, 139 CE). At present, the Board is represented by six
members from different parties: PCN, CD, FMLN, ARENA, PDC
and FRN. The JVE is a permanent body, responsible for
monitoring the activities and operations of the TSE's structure as well as that
of the temporary electoral bodies.
In accordance with the 2008 amendments to the Electoral Code, the Electoral
Review Board is additionally responsible for monitoring the issuance of the
National Identification Card (DUI) (Art. 145 CE). For the Presidential
elections, the Electoral Review Board is planning to perform a
quick-count of ballots in 56 municipalities.
Political Party Agents and Representatives
Each political party or coalition that is
running in the upcoming elections has the right to have one accredited
representative (and one substitute) before the Municipal and Departmental
Electoral Boards; as well as one party agent (and one substitute) in each
Polling Station (JRV). Their purpose is to monitor the process throughout the
period that each of these bodies will be operative. The party representatives
and party agents must be duly accredited by the
TSE.
Each political party or coalition running in
the elections will also be entitled to accredit before each respective Municipal
Electoral Board, one Chief for each Polling Centre and one
Supervisor for every twenty Polling Stations, or fraction of
these, within a Polling Centre -with their respective substitutes. The purpose
of these additional representatives is to provide party agents with legal
counsel.
Note: Every LTO Team will be provided with digital copies of the most important
and relevant laws (Constitution and Electoral Code), as well as of the PLAGEL
(soft and hard copy).
