Nicaraguan elections took place amid complaints

( Spanish) — The municipal election day concluded this Sunday in Nicaragua with conflicting views: while the authorities appreciated a good level of participation, several independent organizations perceived low voter turnout and denounced the arrests of opponents and irregularities during the process.

The presiding magistrate of the Supreme Electoral Council, Brenda Rocha, assured this Sunday in official digital media that she verified voter attendance in the precincts: “We have seen the influx in all the voting centers and we hope that this civic day will continue like this.”

Meanwhile, the opposition Blue and White National Unity showed on its social networks streets and voting centers in the departments of León, Masaya, Carazo and Waspán, completely empty during the day. was unable to independently ascertain the level of turnout at the polls.

President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, voted near their residence in Managua. Later, Ortega told official media: “Nicaraguans, women and men, men and women who know that this vote is a vote for peace, beyond the party to which the vote is cast, they are voting for Nicaragua and vote for Nicaragua, you are voting for peace”.

In these elections, mayors, deputy mayors and members of the municipal councils of 153 municipalities in the country are elected, according to the Supreme Electoral Council, an instance that enabled 3,106 voting centers that would be attended by 3.7 million Nicaraguans over 16 years of age. The day began this Sunday at 7:00 am and lasted until 6:00 pm local time, with the closing of the meetings and subsequent transfer of the electoral records to the computer center.

According to a preliminary report by the independent Urnas Abiertas observatory published this Sunday on its website, the municipal elections were held “under absolute territorial control” by the ruling party, since, according to the organization, “public workers, opposition figures and citizens is generally watched by the ruling party block by block, either to force them to vote or to harass them and prevent any expression of resistance”. In these elections, in addition to the governing Sandinista Front, five other political parties are participating, which the opposition considers collaborators with the Government.

In 63% of the voting centers observed by this political organization “the installation of checkpoints is indicated on the outskirts, from where political operators of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) monitor and control who has come to vote.”

In addition, in 42% of the voting centers observed by Open Ballot Boxes, the citizenry denounced inconveniences for not being on the electoral register. “In some cases, people who do not appear on the register are attacked and expelled from the voting centers because they are told that they are coup plotters, since ‘only opponents do not appear on the register'”.

Open Ballot Boxes assured that inside 41% of the voting centers political proselytism is reported.

The authorities of the Supreme Electoral Council have not officially reacted to these complaints. It is expected that this Monday they will provide a report on the results of the elections.

Open Ballot Boxes affirmed in its report that from November 1 to Sunday afternoon, the arrest of 17 opponents in 6 departments of the country was verified.

The National Police has not officially reported the arrest of citizens in the context of the elections. is trying to get more information.