US delegation: 'Anomalies' in Nicaraguan election; OAS disagrees

Deutsche Presse Agentur/RAW STORY
Published: Monday November 6, 2006

General elections in Nicaragua were in accordance with the law, the head of the observers mission from the Organization of American States (OAS) said on Monday in Managua.

Meanwhile, the U.S. electoral observation delegation issued a statement to the media which reported "anomalies," and advised to "not draw conclusions until the process has been completed."

Sunday's election "was peaceful, orderly, with high turnout and in accordance with the law," said OAS chief Gustavo Fernandez, a Bolivian ex Foreign Minister.

He said his judgement is based on the reports of the 200 observers that OAS deployed in Nicaragua.

The mission's final report shows most of the country's polling stations closed around 0030 GMT, around 30 minutes later than expected, and that 70 per cent of the 3.6 million Nicaraguans eligible to vote actually did so.

Only 2 per cent of polling stations saw people who could not cast their ballots although they intended to, but none of the tally sheets have been contested so far, Fernandez said.

With around 14 per cent of the votes counted, preliminary results show leftist Daniel Ortega receiving just over 40 per cent of the vote. Right-wing former banker Eduardo Montealegre was in second place with 33 per cent of the vote.

Montealegre earlier told CNN that there were "anomalies" in the election.

"The important thing here is that we count every ballot and every ballot box so that everyone is calm and we can keep deepening the democratic process in Nicaragua," he said.

After the voting completed last night, the American delegation, which includes Bennett Johnston, an ex-senator from Louisiana, former New York legislator Bill Paxon, and Ambassador Paul Trivelli, said in a statement,"We have been receiving reports of anomalies in the electoral process, including the delayed opening of the ballot boxes, the slowness of the voting process, and the premature closing of some of the balloting centers."

"Therefore, we are not in a position, at this moment, to make a general judgment on the impartiality and transparency of the process, which still in need of many steps to finish yet," the statement continued.

During a US State Department briefing held this afternoon, Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey was asked if he thought it "was a fair election."

"Well, I think right now there have not been results released by the Nicaraguan Electoral Commission, so we'll wait and see those before we make any kind of statements regarding winners and losers," Casey said. "But I think at this point we'll wait and see what the observers have to say and wait for the final vote tally before we issue any sort of broad judgments on it."

Casey noted that there were "reports about a number of procedural issues involved," and mentioned the delegation statement which "talks about delays in opening polling places, long lines, stations closing while there was voters in line," but said that he wasn't aware of any "tampering" or anything like that.

"Again, I think we want to see what the observers have to say before we issue any sort of broader conclusions," Casey added.