The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, and the Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the OAS, Mauricio Montalvo, today signed an agreement to deployment an Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) for the referendum and popular consultation that will be held in the South American country on April 21.
During the ceremony, which took place at OAS headquarters in Washington D.C., Ambassador Montalvo said his country "is committed to one of the essential pillars that typifies this Organization, which is the democratic system with the conviction that electoral processes represent an essential element of representative democracy." He also recognized that the presence of the Observation Missions "contribute to promoting and strengthening citizen confidence in electoral processes."
For his part, Secretary General Almagro said "it will be an honor to accompany the more than 13 million Ecuadorian citizens called to vote in this exercise of direct democracy, through the deployment of this team," and he thanked the Ecuadorian government for its trust "deposited in the OAS and the commitment of the Organization, through the Electoral Observation Missions, to continue contributing to the consolidation of free, transparent and inclusive electoral processes in the region, and thus strengthening the democracies of the hemisphere."
The Mission will be led by the former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Electoral Service of Chile Patricio Santamaría and will be made up of 16 specialists who will observe aspects of electoral organization and technology, political-electoral financing, electoral justice, and mechanisms of direct democracy.
Reference: FNE-143993
