Guido Carelli Lynch
03/11/2021 8:14 PM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 03/11/2021 20:15
The elections are already on the horizon of the Government and the opposition and every vote counts.
President
Alberto Fernández
will repeal in the next few hours three decrees of his predecessor,
Mauricio Macri
, which will have an impact on the August and October elections.
The Head of State will
prohibit early voting
and by letter of Argentine residents abroad, of persons deprived of their liberty and of the members of the Federal Armed Forces and Security that are part of the electoral command.
The decrees were judicialized and under the orbit of the
Supreme Court
.
On January 11, 2019, former President Macri allowed by decree that the
385,000 Argentines
who reside abroad and are authorized to vote could
vote between 7 and 12 days
before voting by letter, after registering in an online registry.
Until then, Argentines abroad could only vote at diplomatic headquarters.
Pedro's Wado.
The Minister of the Interior, in charge of organizing the elections.
Despite the fact that in Juntos por el Cambio they saw this universe of voters closer to their political force than to the Frente de Todos, the impact on the general elections (they are not allowed to vote in the PASO) for President was relative: only 8 one thousand Argentines cast their vote by letter.
Another 12,000 lined up on the day of the election at embassies and consulates.
The figure, however, was
double the 10,000
overseas
voters
in 2015.
"Any modification of the voting system has to go through Congress," the Secretary for Political Affairs of the Interior Ministry, Patricia Blanco, said in a dialogue with journalists to explain the return to the previous legislation.
With the same argument, months after Macri's decree, in May 2019, the electoral judge
María Romilda Servini
gave rise to the claim of the then main opposition forces (which had not yet come together in the Frente de Todos).
However, the Electoral Chamber reversed the measure.
The appeal went to the Supreme Court.
Last week, the attorney before the highest court,
Laura Conti
issued an opinion against Macri's decree.
The Government did not wait or seek a resolution from the Court and annulled Decree
45/2019
by the same means.
The
registry of voters abroad
that the previous administration modified in 2017, however, will not be altered, because - according to the Executive Branch - it does not change the rules of the electoral game.
The question is what will happen now if the Court issues a judgment on the merits.
Experts consulted by
Clarín
affirmed that with the repealed decrees, the lawsuit will be meaningless and the trial will be extinguished.
Five days after changing the electoral rules for residents abroad, Macri signed
another two decrees
, 54/2019 and 55/2019 with the same sense.
The first allowed inmates with preventive detention (the only ones authorized to cast their vote) in prisons of the federal or provincial system - around 45 thousand, according to figures from the
Penitentiary Prosecutor
- could also vote in advance, between 7 and 12 days, in the general ones and in the primaries.
The second norm applied the same times to the armed and security forces that are part of the electoral command, in charge of the elections.
In the face
of objections from the opposition,
none of the rules were applied.
On April 1, 2019, Macri interrupted them for the only time with
decree 233/2019
, but both remained in force for the next elections.
Officials from the previous administration defended the decrees that will now be repealed and maintained that all the changes were requested by the different sectors involved.
According to the now opponents, those deprived of liberty asked to vote on a day other than Sundays, the preferred day for family visits.
Meanwhile, although the members of the electoral command could vote in the places where they were stationed, they rarely did so for their tasks.
“All the decrees were to expand rights, shorten distances and in tune with the facilities that exist in the rest of the world.
Executive decrees were modified, not the electoral law, "said the former secretary of Strategic Affairs
Adrián Pérez
, who today works in the assembly of
Graciela Ocaña
and
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta
.