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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
The
Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States
(OAS) to the recent general elections in the United States today
presented its final report to the Permanent Council.
The
Chief of Mission and former President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla,
said in her presentation that "the strength of U.S. democracy goes
beyond the particularities of an electoral process. It is based on its
strong institutions, freedom of expression and press, balance of power,
the rule of law and the principles on which the country was founded.”
The
report details recommendations on issues such electoral organization,
the use of technology in elections, political participation, financing,
and media coverage, with the objective of identifying both strengths and
opportunities for improvement in the U.S. electoral system.
The
document points out that the United States campaign finance regime is
the most deregulated it has been in 40 years. “In this context, the EOM
observed that the role of outside spending in elections, particularly
super PACs, has increased dramatically since the deregulation mandated
in 2010.”
Regarding women's political participation, the Chief of
Mission noted that “equal representation of women and men in elected
office remains a significant challenge for the country. With a total of
104 women set to serve in the new Congress no progress was made in this
election regarding the number of women in Congress compared to the
previous one.
On the issue of media, the report notes concern
over “a rise in polarizing and divisive rhetoric during the campaign
that singled out certain groups in a negative context.” Furthermore, it
highlights that “threats to take judicial action against journalists for
expressing their views and restricting their access to cover events
were worrisome.”
The Interim Representative of the United States
to the OAS, Kevin Sullivan, said his country "greatly values the OAS´
important work in promoting free and fair elections through the Americas
and, as a signatory member state of the Inter-American Democratic
Charter, we believe it was important to welcome the OAS to observe our
elections and demonstrate our support for this important function."
Regarding
the report, the U.S. representative noted that he hopes to "share it
with our counterparts at the federal, state and local level of
government." "Our authorities might agree or disagree with the
individual recommendations and conclusions from the report, but there is
no doubt that the EOM report will enrich our political debate as well
as the technical discussions around this important topics," he added.
The
EOM, consisting of 41 experts and observers from 18 countries, was
deployed one week before election day and was present on voting day in
the states of California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota,
Montana, Nebraska , New York, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as
well as in the District of Columbia.
© Copyright 2017 by thebahamasweekly.com
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