TITLE IX. On Elections and the Electoral System
Chapter I. On the Suffrage and Elections
Article 258
Voting is both a right and a duty of citizens. The State shall make sure that it is exercised without any type of coercion and in a secret manner in individual booths installed in every polling station, the use of electronic and computerized means of voting notwithstanding. In the elections of candidates ballot cards which are numbered and printed on a paper offering sufficient security guarantees may be used, and shall be distributed officially. The Election Commission shall also provide the voters with ballot papers on which the political movements and parties with legal personality and the candidates shall appear clearly identified and in equal conditions. An Act may establish voting mechanisms which provide additional and better guarantees for the free exercise of this right of the citizens.
Paragraph 1
The voting process for the election of members of a public body, governor, mayor or the first round of the presidential election must be repeated one single time when the blank votes constitute the majority of the total number of valid votes. In elections in which a single candidate is to be elected, the candidates of the first ballot may not run again, whereas in elections to public bodies the lists which have not attained the threshold may not be submitted.
Paragraph 2
The electronic vote may be introduced in order to achieve flexibility and transparency in all voting processes.
Article 259
Those who elect governors and mayors mandate on the elected official the program that he/she presented on registering as a candidate. An Act shall regulate the exercise of the programmatic vote.
Article 260
The citizens elect in a direct manner the President and Vice President of the Republic, senators, representatives, governors, deputies, mayors, municipal and district councilors, members of the local administrative boards and, when necessary, the members of the Constituent Assembly and the other authorities or officials stipulated by statute.
Article 261
The election of the President and Vice President may not overlap other elections. That of Congress shall be carried out on a date separate from the election of departmental and municipal officials.
Article 262
The political parties, movements, and significant groups of citizens that decide to participate in processes of popular election, will register candidates and unique listings, the number of members will not exceed that of seats in the legislature or offices to promote the respective constituency, except in those that elect up to two members, which can be composed of up to three (3) candidates.
The selection of candidates of political parties and movements with legal capacity will be made according to the mechanisms of internal democracy, following the provisions of the law and statutes. In the process of making lists, all must observe in a progressive manner, among others, the principles of parity, alternation, and universality, according to the provisions of law.
Each political party and movement can opt for the mechanisms of preferential voting. In such a case, the elector can indicate the candidate of preference among members of the list that appear in the electoral ticket. The list will be reordered according to the quantity of votes gathered by each of the candidates. The allocation of seats among the members of the respective lists will be made accordingly in descending order starting with the candidate that obtains the greatest number of preferential votes.
In the case of political parties and political movements that chose the mechanism of preferential vote, the votes for the political party or movement that were not attributed by the elector to any particular candidate, will be counted in favor of the respective list to apply the norms about threshold and electoral quotient, but it will not be considered for the re-organization of the list. When the elector votes simultaneously for the political party or movement and for the candidate of its preference within the corresponding list, the vote will be valid and will be considered in favor of the candidate.
The law will regulate the principal means of financing campaigns, the mechanisms of internal democracy in the party, the inscription of candidates and own lists or the coalition in uninominal positions or public institutions, the administration of resources and the protection of rights of the candidates. The political parties and movements with legal capacity that together obtain an amount of votes of up to fifteen percent (15 %) of the valid votes within the respective constituency, can present the list of candidates in a coalition for public institutions.
Article 263
To guarantee the fair representation of the Political Parties and Movements and significant groups of citizens, the seats of the Public Bodies will be distributed according to the system of electoral quotient among the list of candidates that reach a minimum of votes that cannot be inferior to three percent (3%) of the valid votes for Senate of the Republic or fifty percent (50%) of the electoral quotient in the case of the other bodies, according to the provisions of the Constitution and the Law.
The electoral quotient comes from successively dividing by one, two, three, or more, the number of votes for each list ordering the outcomes in a decreasing fashion until there is a total number of results equal to the number of seats to fill. The lowest result is called the electoral quotient. Each list will obtain as many seats as the times that contains the electoral quotient in their total votes.
In the constituencies where two members are elected, the system of electoral quotient will be applied among the lists that exceed in votes 30% of said quotient. In the constituencies where a member is elected, the seat will be granted to the majoritarian list.
When none of the lists reach the threshold, the seats will be distributed among those that are registered, according to the regulations on allocation that correspond.
Chapter II. On the Electoral Authorities
Article 264
The National Election Commission shall be composed of nine (9) members elected by the Congress of the Republic in plenary session for an institutional period of four (4) years, in accordance with the system of the distributing number and on the basis of proposals submitted by the political parties or movements with legal personality or by coalitions formed between them. Its members shall be civil servants exclusively dedicated to the duties of their office, shall have the same qualifications, disabilities, incompatibilities, and rights as the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice.
Paragraph
The contentious administrative jurisdiction shall decide the electoral nullity action within the maximum period of one (1) year.
If in accordance with an Act there is only one court instance, the period for the decision may not exceed six (6) months.
Article 265
The National Election Commission shall regulate, inspect, supervise and control any electoral activity of the political parties and movements, the relevant citizen groups, their legal representatives, leadership and candidates, ensuring compliance with the principles and obligations which apply to them. It shall have the following special powers:
- To exercise the supreme inspection, oversight and control of the electoral organization.
- To introduce the National Registrar of the Civil Status into his/her office.
- To examine and take the final decision on applications brought against the decisions of its delegates concerning general ballots and to declare the results of the elections and issue the corresponding certifications in these cases.
- In addition, to review, of its own initiative or upon application, ballots and the electoral documents pertaining to them in each of the different stage of the administrative procedure of the election with the goal of guaranteeing the truthfulness of the election results.
- To serve as consultative body of the government on matters within its competence, to propose constitutional reform and ordinary bills, and to recommend draft decrees.
- To oversee compliance with the rules concerning political parties and movements and with the provisions regarding publicity and political opinion polls; the rights of the opposition and minorities; and the development of the electoral processes in the conditions of comprehensive guarantees.
- To distribute the subsidies which an Act establishes for the funding of electoral campaigns and the safeguarding of the right of political participation of the citizens.
- To count the votes in all national elections, to declare the results of the election, and to issue the certifications as appropriate.
- To grant and to revoke the legal personality of the political parties and movements.
- To regulate the participation of the political parties and movements in the social communications media of the State.
- To cooperate in the realization of internal polls of the parties and movements for the taking of decisions and the selection of their candidates.
- To decide on the removal of candidates to Public Bodies or popularly elected office from the electoral list where full evidence exists that they are disqualified from public office for one of the causes recognized by the Constitution or statute.
- To draft its own rules of procedure.
- Other powers that an Act may confer upon it.
Article 266
The National Registrar of the Civil Status shall be chosen by the Presidents of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Council of State in a merits-based contest organized in accordance with the relevant statute. The term of office shall be four (4) years. The Registrar must possess the same qualities that the Political Constitution requires in the case of the magistrates of the Supreme Court of Justice, and must not have exercised functions in the executive committees of political parties or movements in the year immediately preceding his/her election.
He/She shall exercise the functions determined by an Act, including the direction and organization of the elections, the civil registry and the identification of persons, and shall conclude contracts in the name of the Nation in the cases provided by statute.
The National Registry Office shall be staffed by civil servants pursuing a special administrative career which may be entered only by means of a merits-based contest and which provides for a flexible retirement in accordance with service needs. In all cases, positions involving administrative or electoral responsibilities are subject to the principle of free removal, in accordance with the relevant statute.
Transitional paragraph
The term of the current members of the National Election Commission and the National Registrar of Civil Status shall continue until the year 2006. The following election for any of these positions shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the present Legislative Act.
