Chile's president forgets to sign name at voting booth, thousands of Chileans mistakenly put on wrong voter rolls

Record ID: 84153

  • Title: Chile's president forgets to sign name at voting booth, thousands of Chileans mistakenly put on wrong voter rolls
  • Date: 23rd October 2016
  • Summary: SANTIAGO, CHILE (OCTOBER 23, 2016) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF VOTING LOCATION IN MAIPU COMMUNE (PART OF METROPOLITAN SANTIAGO) SOLDIER ON PATROL GENERAL VIEW OF VOTING CENTER BALLOT BOXES CHILEAN VOTER AND CIVIL ENGINEER, GUILLERMO PONCE, WHOSE VOTING LOCATION WAS DESIGNATED AS ANTARCTICA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CHILEAN VOTER AND CIVIL ENGINEER, GUILLERMO PONCE, WHOSE VOTING LOCATION WAS DESIGNATED AS ANTARCTICA, SAYING: "A little while ago there was an invitation to verify voting locations and it is traditional to do this. To be prepared for Election Day, to know where to go. But in my case, I was designated to Antarctica, something that I had not anticipated. It is difficult."
  • Embargoed: 7th November 2016 19:22
  • Keywords: Michelle Bachelet municipal elections logistical problems ballot
  • Location: SANTIAGO, CHILE
  • City: SANTIAGO, CHILE
  • Country: Chile
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0025585F7N
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Chilean President Michelle Bachelet had a rocky go of voting in the nation's local elections on Sunday (October 23), having to return to the polls twice after leaving her ID behind and forgetting to sign her name.
    Bachelet, voting in the upper-middle class Santiago neighborhood of La Reina, first forgot to grab her national identification card from poll workers after casting her vote.
    She retrieved the ID from the voting area and then walked outside to address journalists. However, Bachelet had to return to the booth again to sign a voter registry as required by law, after failing to do so in previous voting attempts.
    "I missed you all very much," Bachelet joked to the poll workers.
    Bachelet later told reporters the worker in charge of the poll where she voted became nervous and forgot to present her with the registry to sign. The poll worker in question gave the same account.
    "This is the first time she [electoral worker at the voting table] participated so first she forgot to give me my ID and she also forgot to tell me to sign the book," Bachelet said.
    The episode proved amusing to local media with national newspaper La Tercera saying it was "as unusual, as it was embarrassing."
    Meanwhile, Chile's electoral service has mistakenly listed hundreds of thousands of voters as living in towns far away from their actual place of residence, casting a minor pall over local elections on Sunday (October 23).
    According to the government, about 475,000 voters in the country of 17.6 million people have been placed on the wrong voter roll. While some voters are listed as living in nearby municipalities and thus may be able to vote with some added inconvenience, many are listed as living far from their actual home.
    Among them is Guillermo Ponce, a civil engineer living in the Santiago neighborhood of Nunoa, who found out recently that the electoral service had changed his residence to Chilean Antarctica, a largely unpopulated province well over 2,000 miles (3,219 km) southward.
    "I don't know Antarctica, I've never been there, I've never done any administrative dealings there," Ponce said.
    "So, all the explanations that (the government) offers, that two addresses could have gotten mixed up during an administrative process or a transaction at the Civil Registry that caused this address to be assigned, none of that is valid in my case," he added
    On Thursday, Chilean Justice Minister Javiera Blanco resigned among calls by lawmakers that she be sacked due to the registering errors.
    Meanwhile, another unusual election situation occurred in a Santiago commune known as Maipu. There, voters have to contend with an unusually large ballot that is listing 108 candidates for city councilors. Electoral officials are concerned that the size of the ballot could pose challenges for elderly voters and have asked election workers to assist. Current Maipu mayor Christian Vittori said that voters should have been given pre-vote instructions as to how to handle the oversized ballot.
    "No one should lose the right to become a candidate, but when there are ten that can be chosen. To have a hundred and something - there are people who will come, who will fold the ballot and who will leave it there because looking for a candidate among one hundred and something is very difficult. The letters aren't very large," said senior voter Pedro Baez.
    Chilean voters are expected to shift right in local elections this weekend, dealing a blow to the center-left governing coalition and serving a further setback to Latin America's already struggling leftist movement.
    Center-left President Michelle Bachelet was elected three years ago with high approval ratings, and her Nueva Mayoria coalition, though riven internally, has held firm control of Congress.
    But as Chileans prepare to vote for mayors and local councils this Sunday, it appears the left's era of dominance is drawing to a close, with likely consequences for next year's presidential election.
    A series of high-profile corruption scandals among politicians, in a country that prides itself on its probity, have angered Chileans, and both the government and opposition have seen approval ratings drop into the teens
    This year, 2,240 councilmember seats and 345 mayoral seats are up for election throughout the country.
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