OAS discusses Brazil election observation with Temer
The team of specialists from the Organization of American States (OAS), which is to come to Brazil to observe the 2018 elections, will be formed by up to 60 experts, to be sent to different locations across the country, said mission head Laura Chinchilla. In a Wednesday (Aug. 22) meeting with President Michel Temer at the Planalto presidential palace, Chinchilla worked out the details of the work of the observers—their first mission in Brazil.
“The visit aimed at collecting data to better plan our mission and formally outline the cooperation efforts to be made with with electoral authorities,” Chinchilla said, adding that some of these protocols will be signed tomorrow (23).
To carry out this task, Chichilla will rely on a team with 50 to 60 observers. “We’ll have groups scattered all over the territory so they can have a close look on the process, as well as how the elections are organized,” she went on to note.
She pointed out that the OAS has done this job in different countries in the continent for over 50 years. “This work essentially consists of the integration of work groups formed by experts familiar with the several election-related topics, like technology, women’s participation, funding, and electoral law.”
The mission head is slated to meet with Brazilian Supreme Court Chief Justice Cármen Lúcia at 6 pm today. A meeting with Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes Ferreira is also reported to take place tomorrow, during which a deal will be signed on the privileges and the immunity of OAS observers in the October elections.
On Friday (24), Rosa Weber, chief justice at the country’s Superior Electoral Court, is expected to welcome the specialists who came on the previous visit of the Electoral Observation Mission. They will also meet with Humberto Jacques, deputy prosecutor-general for electoral affairs, in addition to watching a demonstration of how a voting machine operates.
After consultations were held between the Superior Electoral Court, the President’s Office, and the Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Brazilian government in September last year invited the OAS to monitor the elections this year. After the elections, the specialists are to draw up a report with their conclusion as well as recommendations. The document is then forwarded to authorities, and then to OAS’s Permanent Council. The document will serve as the base for plans on the cooperation between the organization and the country observed, in a bid to implement the recommendations.
Since their first mission, in Costa Rica, in 1962, the OAS has conducted 250 missions in 27 countries—among them the US and Mexico.
