Global Courant
As of noon today, the silence of political propaganda governs, the stage of presentation of candidates and proposals ends, the moment for the citizens to be before the polls is approaching. Faced with a critical decision, faces or symbols will be marked on ballot papers and the national future of the next four years will be outlined. On the current Supreme Electoral Tribunal, appointed in 2020, now falls, more than ever, the burden of developing efficient, transparent and secure logistics.
Guatemala is approaching practically unprecedented elections, due to the large number of parties and candidates, as well as omissions, errors, limitations, delays and even conflicts of interest, veiled or declared. The ruling party is trying again for re-election through the use of all financial, programmatic and propaganda resources, just like dozens of mayors and deputies. But, in the long run, what weighs the most for the citizen is what they managed to build, specify, contribute and solve, as well as breaches, excesses or justifications about what was promised these days but four years ago.
Despite the half-reported financing or unsanctioned clientelism due to the laxity and ineptitude of the electoral body, the meeting of more than nine million citizens with their polling station is imminent and constitutes the touchstone of Guatemalan democracy. There is no more time for excuses, to saddle blame and avoid responsibilities. The electoral verdict is punctual, sacred, massive and historic. All logistical and security resources, physical and computer, must be ready to guarantee the certainty of the votes.
Thousands of citizens are the best guarantors of the security of the vote and the integrity of the results through their participation in the polling stations or as prosecutors of political parties. The mechanism devised by the constituents 39 years ago is the best padlock, because it includes several correlative locks: the formal fulfillment of electoral day, the counting of the votes in the presence of all the members of each table and the signing of the official records, whose data is entered into the system to declare immediate results, but which will also be physically scanned and sent, for comparison in case of challenges.
Added to this are national and international observation missions, as well as journalistic coverage, as witnesses of the due process of elections, without restrictions, pressures or surreptitious or extemporaneous advertising actions. Once again, the electoral authorities are in charge of applying the law rigorously in these cases. History judges each TSE in real time and there should be no room for blunders, much less for errors in the electoral process. Prudence, maturity, and civic responsibility are expected from the parties and candidates for all elective positions, as well as from their campaign teams and co-religionists, to avoid imprudent statements, mutual disqualifications, or the dissemination of falsehoods.
At Prensa Libre and Guatevisión we are committed to providing complete, responsible, prudent, and ethical coverage of this civic journey, as we have done for seven decades. Democracy, with its freedoms, obligations and constitutional guarantees, constitutes, with everything and its defects, the greatest treasure that we Guatemalans share. Exercising the right to vote is endorsing its value.
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