Chapter IX. The Electoral Service and Electoral Justice
Article 96
An organization of the state, autonomous, with juridical personhood and its own patrimony, named the Electoral Service will exercise the administration, oversight, and management of the electoral processes and plebiscites; compliance with the norms of transparency, limits and controls on electoral spending; the norms regarding political parties, and the other functions that are indicated by an organic constitutional law.
The upper management of the Electoral Service will correspond to a directive council, which will exercise the attributes granted by the Constitution and the laws in an exclusive form. Said council will be composed of five councilors designated by the President of the Republic, with the prior approval of the Senate, which requires a two thirds vote of the members in office. The councilors will remain in office for ten years, may not be designated for a new term and will be partially renewed every two years. Prior to the vote of the Senate, the proposed candidates must formulate a presentation of their nomination to the respective position in a public special session before the Senate.
The councilors may only be removed by the Supreme Court, upon the request of the President of the Republic, or upon the request of a third of the members in office in the Cámara de Diputados, due to a serious violation of the Constitution or of the laws, incapacity, bad behavior or negligence in the exercise of his or her duties. The court will hear the issue in a plenum specially convened for the purpose and in order to initiate the removal it must obtain a majority vote of the members in office in agreement. The organization and attributes of the Electoral Service will be established by an organic constitutional law. Its form of decentralization, the staff, the remunerations and staff regulations will be established by a law.
Article 97
A special tribunal of the State, which will be named the Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones, will be responsible for the general oversight and certification of the elections for President of the Republic, Representatives and Senators; it will resolve the complaints that take place and it will proclaim the results of elections. Said tribunal will also oversee the plebiscites and will have the other attributes determined by the law.
It will be composed of five members designated in the following form:
- Four ministers of the Supreme Court, designated by that court through a lottery in the form and at the opportunity determined by the respective organic constitutional law, and
- A citizen that has held the role of President or Vice President of the Cámara de Diputados or of the Senate for a period of no less than 365 days, designated by the Supreme Court in the form indicated in the proceeding letter a), from the group of all those that meet the indicated requirement.
The designations referred to in letter b) may not apply to persons that are parliamentarians, candidates in popular elections, Ministers of the State, nor to leaders of political parties.
The members of this tribunal will hold office for four years and the provisions of articles 59 and 60 of this constitutions will be applicable.
The Tribunal Calificador will proceed as a jury in assessing the facts and will issue sentences according to the law.
An organic constitutional law will regulate the organization and operation of the Tribunal Calificador de Elecctiones.
Article 98
There will be regional electoral courts charged with the general oversight and certification of the elections that the law entrusts to them, as well as with resolving complaints that take place and proclaiming the elected candidates. Their resolutions will be appealable to the Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones in the form determined by the law. Additionally, they will certify the union elections as well as those that take place in intermediary groups indicated by the law.
These courts will be composed of a minister of the respective Court of Appeals, elected by this court, and two members designated by the Tribunal Calificador de Elecciones from those persons that have practiced the profession of lawyering or performed the functions of a minister or internal lawyers of the Court of Appeals for a period of no less than three years.
The members of these courts will hold office for four years and will have the inabilities and incompatibilities determined by the law.
These courts will proceed as a jury in fully assessing the facts and will issue sentences according to the law.
The law will determine the other attributed of these courts and will regulate their organization and operation.
Article 99
Annually, the funds necessary for the organization and operation of these courts, will be included in the Budgetary Law of the Nation, their staff, remunerations, and staff regulations will be established by law.
