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They are working against the clock in the Electoral Service (Servel) to comply with the demanding electoral calendar, which begins on April 11 with the elections of mayors, councilors and conventions that will draft a new Fundamental Charter. The 420 plant officials are joined by personnel hired in each election process for different logistical tasks, material preparation, inspection, as well as liaison personnel at the polling stations, who collect the minutes and digitize them from the same location to the counting centers. “This is what, added to the work of the members of the respective voting tables, allows us to deliver fast and reliable preliminary results. In addition, we must consider lawyers and accountants for the review of the income and expense balances that the candidates are required to do. to be submitted after the election and for the processing of administrative sanctioning procedures, in the event of irregularities or illicit acts, “indicates Patricio Santamaría, president of the Servel Board of Directors.
He knows that the scrutiny of public opinion will be on him and on the service he heads, especially for a series of details that are still pending and that must be resolved before the start of this true flurry of elections that is looming in the country. In this interview with The counter, Santamaría also responds to the criticism that Servel received for the low turnout in the primary elections of mayors and regional governors. “One would have expected more work to disseminate the parties themselves and their candidacies,” he said.
-The law establishes that candidates for reserved seats must have the sponsorship of three communities, five indigenous associations or a chiefdom, or have 120 signatures of people self-identified as belonging to indigenous peoples. Is it possible to do this legal process before January 11 when the candidatures must already be registered?
-It’s going to be a demanding challenge. As far as the Servel is concerned, we have prepared our Regional Directions to receive the sponsorships that they want to deliver in person. Now that the digital platform is available, these can be done online, with a unique password, which will greatly facilitate compliance with this requirement.
-How are the problems posed by the register for native peoples being resolved? In the sense that there will possibly be a decrease in the vote, taking into account that many people will have problems moving to register or lack of internet connection to sponsor candidacies, would self-identification have been better, from a logistical point of view?
-We already request from the different organizations that they must provide us with the antecedents of members of the indigenous peoples, that is, the name, the RUN and the town to which they belong and the other data that allow us to prepare the electoral roll with the corresponding indications. Eighty days before the election, we will publish this list and up to 45 days before the election, people who self-identify as members of some people may do so by means of a sworn statement signed before different ministers of the faith that the law indicates and that they must send to the Servel. They can also do it online.
-About the registration of independents, do you have an estimate of the candidates that have registered so far? Do you consider that the requirements for freelance registration are actually barriers to entry?
-In the first two days of operation of the digital platform for the sponsorship of independents, 232 people have been qualified as candidates and 4,761 have made sponsorships.
Strip for constituents
– Will there be a television propaganda strip in the context of the election of constituents?
-Since the rules for the election of deputies are applied for the election of conventional constituents, there will be a strip. In addition, the Law on quotas for native peoples determined a percentage of said band for the candidates of said peoples.
-Does the law in this case contemplate that the candidates receive an amount of money per vote obtained, as a form of state financing?
-In this there is an error, it is not that an amount of money is given to the candidates for votes obtained. What the law contemplates is the reimbursement of electoral expenses, the payment of which is pending at the end of the campaign, up to an amount that results from multiplying 0.04 UF per vote obtained. If the outstanding expenses are less, it is paid up to that amount. If the pending expenses are greater, only the resulting amount is paid, and the remaining balance is paid by the candidate.
-Next year there is a full calendar of elections and, despite the fact that there are decisions of the Supreme Court so that people deprived of liberty can exercise their right to vote, this has not happened. Does the Servel consider that those who are in prisons will be able to participate in the election to elect the representatives of the Constitutional Convention?
-We are working rapidly with the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency to make the necessary legal reforms to expand voting mechanisms, including early voting and the vote of persons deprived of liberty, in order to eliminate a clear violation of the human rights of people who have their right to vote, but cannot exercise it because their freedom of movement is restricted.
-How has the coordination with La Moneda been to enable this to happen?
-We have had very good coordination with Minister Cristián Monckeberg and also with Minister Hernán Larraín and the Undersecretary for Human Rights, Lorena Recabarren, who contributed with a study on the subject. We had already made some progress during the government of President Bachelet, in which we even advanced on a bill when Lorena Fries was the Undersecretary of Human Rights.
From individualism to corruption
-In all the votes of the parties, from the UDI to the PC, passing through the FA, there has been a sustained decline in participation in this period, to what do you attribute the decrease?
-Because of the position I serve, I prefer not to comment on the specific issue. In any case, we cannot ignore that we are experiencing a global participation crisis, the result of individualism that prevails over the spirit of community; mistrust in the other or the other; and a series of factors such as the lack of representation, and even cases of corruption.
-What responds to the criticism that insufficient information in the elections for regional governors would have been the cause of low turnout? Is the paving being blamed, in your opinion?
-The Servel did what it was supposed to do in terms of information, considering that they were primary elections, the purpose of which is for the political parties to elect their final candidates for the election of April 11 of next year. Probably one would have expected more work to disseminate the parties themselves and their candidacies.
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