|
SOUTH
AMERICA |
OAS Denounces Vote-Buying In
Colombia's Parliamentary Elections
BOGOTA - 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.
According to Correa, the results of the
elections which had been delayed for more
than 48 hours, did not give the names of the
164 parliamentarians to the House of
Representatives, the candidates of the
ruling Conservative Party and five
representatives of the regional Andean
Parliament. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
