OAS denounces vote-buying in Colombia's parliamentary elections

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Xinhua

OAS denounces vote-buying in Colombia's parliamentary elections
13:16, March 17, 2010

The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS), which observed the parliamentary elections on March 14 in Colombia, denounced on Tuesday vote-buying in at least six provinces of the country.

Enrique Correa, head of the mission, said the main vote-buying cases happened in six provinces of Atlantico, Bolivar, Magdalena, Cundinamarca, Narino and Norte de Santander.

He said the OAS mission, which monitored 16 out of the 32 provinces of the country, found many voters were paid in cash or in goods when they cast their votes. Some voters were even offered scholarships.

Correa, who led a 70-member observation team, said the buying of votes is a "leading phenomenon" which "mocks the norms of the electoral financing."

The OAS mission chief said the lack of electoral logistic materials made secret votes convenient, adding that other problems included deficient training of the juries and a fallible process of collecting counting data from different polling stations.

Read more: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/6922318.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. COLOMBIA: Vote-Buying and Front Men

COLOMBIA: Vote-Buying and Front Men
By Javier Darío Restrepo*

BOGOTÁ, Mar 16, 2010 (IPS) - During Sunday's legislative elections in Colombia - in which rightwing President Álvaro Uribe's allies were the big winners - polling stations in one-third of the country's municipalities were at risk of violence, corruption or fraud, according to the ombudsman's office and election observers, who reported vote-buying and pressure on voters.

Some of the public were also alarmed at the appearance of the National Integration Party (PIN), a reincarnation of the National Democratic Alliance (ADN) party, which was banned by the electoral court due to irregularities.

The organisers of the controversial ADN are in prison or under investigation for their ties to the far-right paramilitary militias, which are accused of heavy involvement in the drug trade as well as appalling human rights abuses in this South American country that has been in the grip of an armed conflict since 1964.

The legislative polls drew attention worldwide not only because they were seen as an indication of voter intention for the May elections - in which Uribe would have won a third term hands down, according to opinion polls, if the courts had not thwarted attempts last month to modify the constitution to allow him to stand again - but also because of scandals that have surrounded Congress for years.

As an editorial in the El Espectador newspaper put it, "Over the last eight years, Congress has been caught up in the worst crisis in its history."

There have been corruption scandals involving legislators swapping votes for government contracts or public posts, as well as the so-called "parapolitics" scandal in which one-third of the members of Congress have either been arrested or investigated since 2006 for alleged ties to the paramilitary groups.

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=50686

Don't forget, Colombia is the THIRD largest recipient of U.S. tax-payer-derived foreign aid, right behind Israel and Egypt.

[Judi Lynn]

2. According to this article it's unlikely the millions of displace Colombians have a vote at all.

From the article:

On Saturday, 13,200 people from the southwestern department of Nariño, on the Pacific coast, were fleeing harassment by Los Rastrojos, a paramilitary group.

Do those displaced by the war effectively have the right to vote?

"In January and February, 3,300 people were displaced, especially in the Pacific coast region," Jorge Rojas, president of the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), a prominent local human rights group, told IPS. "These were massive displacements of people pushed out by paramilitary groups. These people aren't even thinking about the elections - they're focused on surviving."

The government acknowledged that at least 54,000 internally displaced persons had difficulties voting.

Colombia has one of the largest populations of internally displaced people in the world, numbering nearly five million according to CODHES.

"The displaced, because of their situation, are not only displaced by the armed conflict, but would appear to be displaced from democracy. There are no guarantees for them to participate in elections," said Rojas.