After the criticism of the Electoral Justice, the head of the Buenos Aires Government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, will cancel the system of concurrent elections that was used in the PASO, with paper ballot for national positions and Single Electronic Ballot for local positions, for the next general elections on October 22 in the city of Buenos Aires. " The Institute of Electoral Management of the City (IGE), considers that the BUE is a valid instrument and has shown ample benefits in the PASO elections of August 13, but after the decision of the Justice is doomed together with the judicial authorities to the design of a new system, "said the official Buenos Aires body, in a statement.
There he stated that "the decision of the federal judge with electoral competence María Servini to annul the agreement with the Electoral Tribunal of the City makes abstract the debate on the use of the Single Electronic Ballot (BUE) in the next elections."
Consulted by Clarín, a judicial source said that the date of the election cannot be modified, because the call was made to vote "in the general elections within the period established by the Electoral Code."
He added: "The only possible changes would be to establish that local positions are voted with paper ballot, either in the same ballot box with which the national positions are voted or in another separate ballot box, as was done in the PASO; or else to keep voting with electronic machines, but in a different place than the national offices."
In case the Buenos Aires government decides to change the voting system, "it would have to do it before August 23, so it does not have too much time to make that decision," the judicial sources told Clarín. And they said the Buenos Aires Electoral Management Institute (IGE) would have to do it or directly with a decree from Rodríguez Larreta.
The decision to analyze the change in the voting system was raised by the harsh questions made this Thursday by the federal judge with electoral competence María Romilda Servini.
In a letter, Judge Servini asked that voting be held in separate places on October 22 for national and local candidacies, so that the voting for national positions is not delayed, due to the multiple problems that occurred with the electronic machines.
Two technical assistants change the electronic machine with which Patricia Bullrich voted, due to failures in the system. Photo Federico López Claro.
"The events that occurred during the August 13 vote are due solely to the use of a voting system for local candidacies, simultaneously with one different from that used in the national election, which allows us to conclude that this option was not correct or advantageous," said Judge Servini.
And he added: "My responsibility as Federal Judge with Electoral Competence of the Federal Capital and the right of citizens to be able to express themselves democratically through suffrage in elections that take place normally, without having to suffer hours of waiting to be able to vote, having the possibility of voting for all categories of positions and without situations that alter the collective mood, they force me to rethink the feasibility of re-holding concurrent elections with two different voting systems next October, as happened on August 13."
In that letter, which she sent to the National Electoral Chamber and the Buenos Aires IGE, Servini said that her "accumulated experience" in more than 30 years as an electoral judge obliges her to "warn that the elections of October 22 cannot be held again and under the same conditions."
"I reiterate, it would make a mockery of the citizenry to subject them again to the degrading conditions in which they had to vote on August 13," Servini concluded. And he canceled the Act Agreement with the Institute of Electoral Management.
The position of Jorge Macri and Patricia Bullrich
Now Rodríguez Larreta analyzes a response to these serious accusations of the Electoral Justice, which is in tune with the proposals of Jorge Macri, the Buenos Aires government minister who won the internal of Together for Change and also asked for a change in the voting system, to return to the model prior to these PASO.
"There is a fact to keep in mind that is not minor, which is that 8% fewer people voted for head of government than for president. There were people who went, voted for President and because the machine did not work or because they had tired, they left without voting. That's not good," Jorge Macri said on Radio Mitre. And he called for "rethinking" the voting system in the City, since more people will probably go to vote on October 22 and, then, the problems in the general election could be accentuated.
In fact, the candidate for President of Together for Change, Patricia Bullrich, had serious problems voting on the day of the PASO and took 12 minutes to be able to vote with an electronic ballot, after failures in the machine and that a couple of technicians approached to assist her.
"They had to change the machine because it didn't work. I voted seven times and two technicians had to come. Something very strange happened to me, I voted for a list and ended up getting a different one," said Bullrich, after voting in La Rural, in Palermo. He added: "The vote in the city of Buenos Aires was a disaster. My experience was bad."
See also
Jorge Macri asks to "rethink" the voting system in the City for the generals
See also