Clarification and necessary information

PUBLIC STATEMENT

CLARIFICATION AND NECESSARY INFORMATION

In light of the recent events involving small anti-democratic groups, which once again threaten our newly regained democracy, we feel a moral and academic obligation to make known our objective and impartial position regarding the elections held on Sunday, October 18, 2020. The JAINA Study Community, as part of the OBSERVA BOLIVIA Platform, committed to democracy and the human rights of Bolivians, together with the Casa de la Mujer de Santa Cruz (Women's House of Santa Cruz), addresses the Bolivian population, particularly those from Tarija and Santa Cruz, to inform them of the results of a transparent and impartial process, inspired by the ethics of civil rights for the national population.

Social organizations such as Casa de la Mujer and the JAINA Studies Community, and others based in the 9 departments, seeking to contribute to restoring the population's trust in the electoral processes, within the framework of the Observa Bolivia Platform, called upon young women, men, and all citizens who felt the need to participate in the exercise of social oversight of the electoral process, contributing with their voluntary work to the deepening of democracy, through accompanying the citizen vote, a task that we assumed with responsibility and authenticity in the information.

We inform and clarify that social oversight is a citizen-led initiative for domestic, qualitative, and independent electoral observation. As development actors and human rights defenders, on October 18, 2020, during election day, we silently and with absolute respect monitored the performance of all actors involved in the issuance of the universal, direct, and secret vote, as an instrument of representative democracy (Art. 11, Paragraph II, 2, CPE).

The election day was marked by normality, from voter turnout during the voting process to the final vote count, in the Department of Tarija, as well as in the Department of Santa Cruz. According to information received from our observers in other departments, the entire country experienced a day of complete tranquility.

Consequently, without taking a position for or against any political force, we are able to affirm that it is impossible that there were irregularities that tarnished the electoral process and even worse, that any fraudulent act occurred.

In an effort to dispel and clarify all doubts, as entities responsible for the exercise of accompanying and observing the electoral process, a voluntary task supported by the Electoral Regime Law, articles 253, 254 and 255, 256, referring to electoral accompaniment, its contribution to transparency, its scope and the code of respect and principles of the observer, we inform you that at each polling station, delegates from different political forces participated, delegates who at the end of the count, in addition to affixing their signatures to the minutes, as a sign of agreement with the correct conduct of the elections, left taking with them a copy of the original minutes, documents that, by moral obligation, these delegates must show to the public to strengthen Democracy and the mechanisms that support it.

It was also verified that both the President of each polling station and the Notary of each Electoral Precinct received their respective copies of the minutes; these facts and elements that occurred on Sunday, October 18, 2020, give certainty that throughout the national territory, there are thousands of pieces of evidence that can dismantle the unfounded and unsubstantiated complaints (redundancy intended) that irresponsibly seek to disrespect the popular will and the legal and Constitutional results derived from it.

We all can and must contribute to Democracy, to a true and lasting pacification of our Homeland.

JAINA Study Community Women's House

Tarija Santa Cruz