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2008 Assessment

Ecuador: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Ecuador: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Election Integrity
Indicators		Score
17	Is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?	100
18	Is the election monitoring agency effective?	25
19	Are elections systems transparent and effective?	83

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

17: In law, is there an election monitoring agency or set of election monitoring agencies/entities?

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Constitución de la República del Ecuador, Título IX de la Organización Electoral Art. 209

Is the election monitoring agency effective?

18a: In law, the agency or set of agencies/entities is protected from political interference.

Score:

YES

Comments: The members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal are designated by a proportional model based on the number of votes obtained by political parties in the last election; hence, the Tribunal is highly politicized.

References: Constitución de la República del Ecuador, Título IX de la Organización Electoral Art. 209

18b: In practice, agency (or set of agencies/entities) appointments are made that support the independence of the agency.

Score:

100

Comments: The appointments to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal are strictly political. Furthermore, the appointed representatives have strong influence on the selection of the personnel working at the Tribunal. Due to this, there are clear factions which respond to the political parties represented in the Tribunal. In practice, the political parties who have achieved a representation in the Tribunal gain a substantial political leverage that allows them to negotiate with other factions, or avoid being sanctioned over electoral violations.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

18c: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities has a professional, full-time staff.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

18d: In practice, the agency or set of agencies/entities makes timely, publicly available reports following an election cycle.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

18e: In practice, when necessary, the agency or set of agencies/entities imposes penalties on offenders.

Score:

100

Comments: Penalties in electoral matters depend on the influence that each party has over the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. In recent elections, several political parties exceeded the allowed expenditure amount for a particular candidate. In all of the cases, there was technically supported evidence of such violation that enabled the application of clear legal regulations. Since the political parties involved had representatives in the Tribunal, the sanctions where mostly overlooked. And when sanctions were applied, they where slaps on the wrist in comparison to the magnitude of the violations.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Are elections systems transparent and effective?

19a: In practice, there is a clear and transparent system of voter registration.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: Deceased persons and those who are living overseas still account for a percentage of the population listed as registered to vote.

19b: In law, election results can be contested through the judicial system.

Score:

YES

Comments: Results can be contested, in a restrictive way, only through the Constitucional Tribunal.

References: Ley de Elecciones Título Cuarto Votaciones, Escrutinio y Adjudicación de Puestos Capítulo Quinto se las Impugnaciones y de los Recursos Electorales

19c: In practice, election results can be effectively appealed through the judicial system.

Score:

100

Comments: Appeals on electoral matters are resolved in the first instance by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, which is composed of political parties representatives, with a clear conflict of interest over the matters reviewed. One can only appeal the determinations of the Tribunal through the Constitutional Tribunal (which also has a clear political composition), sustaining the appeal on an alleged constitutional right violation. This process is timely and costly.

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: When contested, and if politically supported by the ruling party, election results are determined by a manual, one-by-one, public vote count.

19d: In practice, the military and security forces remain neutral during elections.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: I agree with the comment with a caveat: Next year, for the first time in Ecuadorian history, the military and security forces will be allowed to vote. So there is no telling what could happen. In my view, in Ecuador, this is a mistake that might wind up politicizing the armed forces and eventually leading to rebellions that are either against or in defense of the government in power.

19e: In law, domestic and international election observers are allowed to monitor elections.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Reglamento de Observación Electoral (Resolución No. PLE-TSE-3-10-8-2006)

19f: In practice, election observers are able to effectively monitor elections.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Election observers have unfettered access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters themselves. The government does not interfere with the observers\' activities. <p>50 Score Criteria: Election observers generally have access to polling sites, counting stations, and voters but encounter restrictions in certain areas. The government may impose burdensome regulatory or bureaucratic requirements on observers to discourage their involvement. <p>0 Score Criteria: Election observers\' movements are significantly limited by the government and many polling and counting sites are restricted or barred from observers. The government imposes so many bureaucratic or regulatory burdens on the observers that their mission is rendered ineffective.$

Comments:

References: Informe de Elecciones para la Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, Organización Participación Ciudadana, [ LINK ]

Ecuador, elecciones, medios y democracia, Osvaldo León, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación CHASQUI, [ LINK ]