On 6 January, Ecuador’s electoral disputes tribunal (TCE) dismissed four of the five members of the national electoral council (CNE) after ruling that they had breached electoral law, barely a month before the country’s 7 February general election.
Analysis:
The ruling may provide an unexpected lifeline for aspiring presidential candidate Álvaro Noboa, of right-wing Justicia Social party, who had filed a complaint after the CNE refused to heed an earlier TCE ruling in support of his candidacy. It is not yet clear whether this intervention has come too late for Noboa, with the ballots already being printed and the CNE preparing an appeal, but this affair certainly risks undermining confidence in Ecuador’s electoral process more broadly, with election day fast approaching.
- This hearing had twice been delayed, but TCE judge Ángel Torres finally ruled yesterday that four of the CNE’s five members – including its president, Diana Atamaint, and vice president, Enrique Pita – had “incurred a very serious electoral infraction” by ignoring the 8 December 2020 TCE ruling in support of Noboa’s candidacy. Torres ordered that these officials should be removed from office and fined US$28,000 each, and that the CNE should display the sentence on its website for a period of two months.
- The CNE responded with a statement insisting that “the electoral process will continue, despite attempts to interfere in the general election”, and warning that the ruling “violates democratic stability in Ecuador”. The CNE has committed to appeal against the decision and maintained that the electoral calendar will not be interrupted, with the officials in question set to remain in office until the appeals process is completed.
- Constitutional experts have suggested that the ruling can be appealed before the full TCE, but were clear that there is no court with greater jurisdiction over electoral law. The CNE officials have until 9 January to file an appeal, after which it must be resolved by the TCE within 10 days.
- Noboa and Justicia Social have broadly refrained from commenting while the case is ongoing, but they have been working hard behind the scenes to secure his presidential bid. The head of the human rights treaties subdivision at the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), Ibrahim Salama, published a statement yesterday calling on the Ecuadorean state to guarantee Noboa’s participation in the election, in keeping with the TCE’s earlier ruling.
- However, the ballots started being printed on 5 January, with the official deadline for printing set for today (7 January). Hernán Ulloa, a member of Ecuador’s council of citizen participation and social control (CPCCS), yesterday called on President Lenín Moreno to suspend the printing of ballots until the TCE has reached a final decision – but with an appeal process still to come, it could then prove difficult to circulate ballots around the country in time for 7 February.
Looking Ahead: Regardless of whether or not Noboa joins the 16 names already on the presidential ballot, this affair has undoubtedly stained the reputation of the CNE at a crucial moment and could undermine its authority to arbitrate on any further complications in the electoral process.