In Ecuador, the Citizen's Revolution-RETO coalition denounced an attempt at obstruction by the National Electoral Council after receiving its appeal to challenge the results of the second round of elections. Our colleague Gabriela Mena provides the details.
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00:00In Ecuador, the Citizens' Revolution Redo Coalition denounced an attempt of obstruction on the part of the National Electoral Council upon receiving its appeal to challenge the results of the second round of elections.
00:13Our colleague, Gabriela Mena, with the details.
00:16It is official in Ecuador, the political coalition Citizens' Revolution Redo challenged the results of the presidential elections held on April 13th.
00:27The documentation was delivered on Wednesday, April 30th around 11 p.m., at which time the coalition publicly denounced that the National Electoral Council was seeking to obstruct the process.
00:42We were here at the door of the National Electoral Council at 11.06 a.m. They opened the door for us.
00:49Here at the Secretariat we entered at 11.26 p.m. We asked for a receipt.
00:53But they began to count all the tally sheets and they entered us at this time.
00:57At the time when they finished counting the tally, when they finished checking them.
01:05That is, at 2.30 a.m. on May 1st.
01:10For the coalition, this decision alters the legal procedure.
01:14Since, in its opinion, the National Electoral Council should have validated the exact time of arrival
01:19and not the time at which the tallying of the tally sheets by the electoral personnel ended.
01:24On this occasion, 13,917 tally sheets with irregularities were delivered.
01:31Furthermore, according to the Citizens' Revolution, a total of 27,834 tally sheets have been delivered so far.
01:39And here we are with all the anomalies and all the obstructions we have had from the National Electoral Council.
01:46The organization also expressed that the National Electoral Council acts as a partial judge in benefit of Daniel Novoa,
01:57a point with which different organizations, unions, and political analysts agree,
02:02who have emphasized that this arbitrariness must be denounced before the Ecuadorian authorities.
02:07The announcements they are making are extremely serious, and this may constitute a critical news.
02:16If we had an independent prosecutor's office, which does not act selectively,
02:21the prosecutor's office should open an investigation and should carry out the proceedings urgently regarding this,
02:27because we must remember that electoral fraud is considered a criminal offense within the Organic Integral Penal Code.
02:32At the moment, the coalition has not discarded this option.
02:42However, for now, it remains expectant to the resolution to be taken by the plenary of the National Electoral Council,
02:48which will have to deal with the challenge in three days.
02:51According to several legislators of the Citizens' Revolution,
02:54the only thing they are looking for is that the elections of April 13th be transparent
02:59and that the Ecuadorian people be given a voice.
03:02These irregularities not only affect the citizens,
03:08but also jeopardize the institutional credibility of the body in charge of guaranteeing the transparent electoral process,
03:15affects democracy, and the will of millions of Ecuadorians who expect to trust in state institutions,
03:20while these bodies act as an appendix of power generating partiality in the electoral process.
03:24Meanwhile, the coalition remains one step ahead and signed that.
03:35In case of receiving a new refusal from the C&E,
03:38they will challenge the results before the contentious electoral court,
03:41which in a maximum of 15 days should decide whether or not to allow the challenge.
03:46The decision taken by the contentious electoral court may not be appealed.
03:50No podrá ser apelada.
03:52Gabriela Mena, Telesur Ecuador.