Date Printed: 11/03/2008 JTS Box Number: IFES 3 Tab Number: 1 Document Title: Colombia 1994 Elections: Election Technology Assessment Report, March 24, Document Date: 1995 Document Country: Colombia IFES ID: R01560 -4079-9E~I~I~ I~ Im~II~I~ . ~, . I y I I _, ""J I I I COLOMBIA 1994 Elections I Election Technology I Assessment Report I March 24, 1995 I J. Ray Kennedy I Elisa Roller I I I I I I I INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTORAL SYSTEMS I I I 1994 Elections At a Glance I Voter registration: A national identity card is the only document necessary for voting; registration allows voters to select a specific voting location and to vote for Local Administrative Councils; citizens who do not register to vote in a particular location may I vote in central locations for municipal and higher offices. Computerized voter registry. New national ID card program began in 1993. I Estimated voting-age population: approximately 17,719,939, of which 8,928,399 men and 8,791,540 women • Voting is primarily by paper ballot, hand counted at each polling station, although officials I are actively encouraging the development of automated voting systems by private vendors and have set up pilot automated voting locations. Results are transmitted from municipal to departmental level by various means and from departmental election offices to the national I election office by modem or satellite. Departmental deputies elected via closed-list proportional representation in state-wide I voting. Mayors elected by plurality vote. Municipal councils elected by closed-list proportional representation in at-large voting. I 26 parties with permanent registration I October 30, 1994 Elections Registered Voters 17,719,939 I Votes cast (mayoral races) 7,670,867 I Blank votes 153,434 Null votes 357,423 I Number of candidates 24,966 candidates or candidate lists Number of vacancies 15,022 I Municipalities 1,043 Polling stations 48,819 I Poll workers 292,914 I I I I 1 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 1 1. Introduction ............................................... 3 2. Historical Background . 5 'I 3. Colombian Electoral System . 8 a. Electoral Legislation/Regulations . : . 8 1. General Framework . 8 I (a) 1991 Constitution ............................. 8 (b) Electoral Law . 10 (1) Programmatic Vote/Voto Programatico .......... 10 I (2) Ballot Access .......................... 10 (3) Campaign Financing . 11 (4) Political Campaigning . 13 I (5) Miscellaneous Provisions . 14 b. Administrative Structure. 14 1. Consejo Nacional Electoral . .......................... 14 I ii. Registraduria Nacional del Estado Civil . 15 c. October 1994 Elections .................................. 16 I i. Logistics . 16 ii. Security. 16 d. Voter Education . 16 I e. Voter Registration . 19 f. Poll Worker Recruiting and Training ......................... 20 g. Voting ............................................. 21 I h. Vote Counting ........................................ 23 1. Vote Tabulation ....................................... 24 I 4. Technological Innovation in Colombian Election Administration . 25 a. Voter Registration and Fingerprint Identification .................. 25 I b. Voting ............................................. 26 1. Electronic Ballot Voting System . 27 ii. Touch-Screen Voting System .......................... 28 c. Results Transmission . 30 I d. Results Dissemination ................. ___ . 35 I 5. Future Directions . 37 I 6. General Evaluation . 38 I I I I Colombia 1994 Election Technology Assessment March 24, 1995 I Page 2 I 1. Introduction I At the invitation of the National Civil Registry of Colombia and with the financial support of the Center for Democracy and Governance of the U.S. Agency for International Development's I Bureau for Global Affairs, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (lFES) sent Ray Kennedy, Director of Information Resources and former Senior Program Officer for the I Americas, to Bogota, Colombia to assess the technological modernization of election modernization in Colombia during the October 30, 1994 municipal and departmental elections. I IFES has maintained a strong relationship with the RNEC for a number of years as a result of I contacts at regional events and visits to IFES by Colombian electoral officials. I The technological modernization of election administration in Colombia began roughly ten years ago. The initial progress was slow, due to the caution with which the incumbent National Civil I Registrar viewed computers and computerization. There was also resistance on the part of politicians, especially the older generation, who reportedly feared they would lose much of their I control over the electoral process. With the arrival of Luis Camilo Osorio Isaza as National Civil Registrar and Chief Electoral Officer in 1990, the modernization process began a new and more I active phase. I Largely as a result of progress in the period since 1990, election administration in Colombia has earned a reputation for professionalism, efficiency, and impartiality. Most election results are I typically announced by midnight, an achievement which many countries in Latin America - and elsewhere - are anxious to emulate. Most recently, the computerization of the electoral process I has been subjected to the scrutiny of external systems auditors, increasing the confidence of the I Colombian popUlation in the electoral process even further. I I I I Colombia 1994 Election Technology Assessment March 24, 1995 I Page 3 I Beyond its current achievements, the RNEC has embarked on an ambitious pilot project with the assistance of a number of private firms to develop practical automated voting systems and on a I project to integrate departmental and municipal offices into a nationwide. network for data sharing . I The report that follows will focus on the technological innovations in Colombian electoral administration, the future direction of its modernization, and the applicability of the concepts and I technologies involved to election administration in other countries. I I I '. I I I I I I I I I I Colombia 1994 Election Technology Assessment March 24, 1995 I Page 4 I 2. Historical Background I The Republic of Colombia, as it is known today, was established in 1886. Two political parties, Panido Liberal or Liberal Party (PL) and the Panido Conservador Social or the Conservative I Party (PCS), emerged and dominated the political scene for the next century. From 1948 to 1958, Colombians endured a decade of internal chaos with over 300,000 deaths as a result of the I violence. This decade included a coup d'etat in 1953 after which a dictatorship ensued led by I General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla. I The decade of internal strife and violence came to an end with the signing of the Pact of Sitges in July 1957 by the Liberal and Conservative Parties. The pact stipulated that Liberals and I Conservatives would participate equally in the government until 1970 under an umbrella group named the Frente Nacional, or National Front (FN). Constitutional reforms implemented in I December 1968 extended the National Front until December 1974. The pact was then continued informally until 1979 despite dissident factions in both parties. This dissidence culminated in I 1982 when the Liberal party split. In anticipation of the presidential election held that year, two Liberal candidates were nominated for the presidential election. I The traditional bipartisan era came to an end in the congressional elections of 1990 when the I recently legalized Alianza Democrtitica - 19 de Abril or Democratic Alliance - April 19 Movement (AD - M19) won the second largest number of seats in the Chamber of Representatives. There I are currently 26 political parties legally recognized by the Consejo Nacional Electoral. By far, the largest party is the Partido Liberal, followed by the Panido Conservador. Other parties I include the Movimiento de Salvacion Nacional (National Salvation Movement (MSN), Alianza Democrtitica - Movimiento 19 de Abril or Democratic Alliance - April 19 Movement (AD - M19), I Union Patriotica or Patriotic Union (UP), Panido Democrata Cristiano or Christian Democratic I I I I Colombia 1994 Election Technology Assessment March 24,1995 I Page 5 I Party (PDC), Movimiento Unitario Metapolitico or Metapolitical Unitarian Movement (MUP), Alianza Nacional Popular or National Popular Alliance (Anapo), Partido Comunista de Colombia I or Communist Party of Colombia (pCC), and Partido Socialista de los .Trabajadores or Socialist Workers' Party (PST), as well as other minor political parties and movements. Following the last I congressional election held on March 13, 1994, the make-up of the Congress was as follows: I POLITICAL PARTY NUMBER OF SEATS . ' . ">. ..•.•.•. > ................... ........ ••• . ' . ri··········.··.··.············ I .' .i< .SENATE >.' ...• ./ Liberal Party 52 I Social Conservative Party 21 Democratic Alliance 1 I Indigenous groups 2 I Others 26 ~ •• p ····· ••. CHAl\1BE)ROFMPRESE)NTAJ'IVES·· . '. I Liberal Party 89 Social Conservative Party 56 I Democratic Alliance 2 National Salvation Movement 2 I Indigenous groups 2 Minority Groups 2 I Others 10 I From 1990 until 1992, the Colombian government, under the presidency of Cesar Gaviria Trujillo, attempted to reintegrate former paramilitary terrorist groups, such as the M-19 and the I Popular Army of Liberation (EPL). However, in 1992, peace talks with the Colombian I I I I Colombia 1994 Election Technology Assessment March 24, 1995 I Page 6 I Revolutionary Anned Forces (FARC) and the National Liberation