P. 13 - LA PLAYA
APRIL / ABRIL 2014
WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM
To Advertise / Para Publicidad: [email protected]
2014 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN THE
REPUBLIC OF PANAMA
Thursday - Monday
noon - 10pm
In a few days, authorities of popular vote will be elected; these authorities will serve
in government for the next 5 years. The four authorities are: Representatives, Mayors,
Deputies and the President of the Nation. The elections will be held on Sunday May 4th 2014.
use and consumption is prohibited.
Foreigners in hotels where they are
staying are exempted from this
prohibition.
I
t is very important to understand that
4 authorities rule each sector in
Panama. The authorities represent
the Executive power in each sector;
these authorities are elected by popular
vote. The general elections are a
means to elect these four authorities:
“Representatives”, who represent the
corregimientos (a Spanish term used
for
country
subdivisions
for
administrative purposes), the “Mayors”
representing
the
Districts,
the
“Deputies” representing the electoral
districts,
and
the
“Presidency”
representing the whole nation.
Requirements in order to vote: One
must legally be an adult (18 years of
age), in possession of a valid national
ID, and enrolled in the Electoral
Register. Panamanians living abroad
may also vote if they have been
previously enrolled in the Electoral
Register.
How Elections are performed
Usually schools are used as voting
centers. Often representatives of the
political parties and the electoral court
will help organize the voting procedure.
These officials will help to confirm that
people are listed in the electoral
register; they will also help direct them
to the table where they must vote.
When at the voting table, voters must
show their national ID, and the panel of
the electoral court must say the name
out loud and proceed to search for it in
the electoral register; when the
person’s name is found, 4 ballot papers
are given to them. On this paper
candidates
can
choose
a
Representative, Mayor, Deputy and
President. After the ballot is deposited,
the person must return to the voting
table, where his ID will be returned to
him after a voting certification is signed.
The voting schedule is as follows: At
6:00 a.m., all voting tables will be
installed. At 7:00 a.m. the general
elections will start. At 2:00 p.m., the
Scrutiny Boards will be installed. At
4:00 p.m., the elections will be closed.
When the election ends, the members
of each table will begin counting votes;
this is a public procedure. For such a
procedure the Manila paper and any
other material than can affect the
visibility of the persons inside and
outside the rooms must be removed.
Votes are to be counted one by one;
the ballots must be shown to the public
and to the representatives of the
political parties. Votes will be counted
in the following order: President,
Deputies,
Mayors
and
Representatives.
Election silence period in the
electoral propaganda
Demonstrations, rallies, caravans, any
political propaganda and social media
voices, are allowed until Thursday 1
May 2014 at 12:00 a.m., and may
resume on Monday 5 May 2014 at
12:00 p.m. This also applies to wedges,
any type of advertisements or state
propaganda.
Prohibition
From noon on Saturday May 3 until
noon on Monday May 5, all bars,
wineries,
nightlife
entertainment
centers, dance halls and other places
that sell alcoholic beverages will
remain closed and its sale, gift, transfer
The 3 main political groups in Panama
for this election are:
Democratic Change: with 508,191
registered members by 31 December
2013, Democratic Change is one of the
newest political parties; founded by
Ricardo Martinelli in 1998, who is the
current President of Panama. His
candidate for president is José
Domingo Arias and the Vice-president
candidate Marta Linares de Martinelli
(current First Lady).
Democratic Revolutionary Party
(PRD): with 506,591 registered
memb