XXII CONFERENCE. CENTRAL AMERICAN AND THE CARIBBEAN ELECTORAL ORGANIZATIONS ASSOCIATION (Protocol of Tikal) October 22 and 23, 2008

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1 XXII CONFERENCE CENTRAL AMERICAN AND THE CARIBBEAN ELECTORAL ORGANIZATIONS ASSOCIATION (Protocol of Tikal) October 22 and 23, 2008 The delegates, representatives of the Electoral Organizations of Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama and St. Lucia, have met during the XXII Conference of the Central American and the Caribbean Electoral Organizations Association, held in the City of Managua, Nicaragua on October 22 and 23, 2008, in our capacity as members of the Protocol of Tikal, Reaffirming our faith in democracy as the system that, starting on the ineludible platform of the elections, offers to the populations and individuals the full exercise and enjoyment of their civil and political, economic, social and cultural rights, and after the deliberations held, HEREBY AGREE TO 1. Receive the Work Report presented by the Executive Secretariat for the July 2008 September 2008 period. 2. Acknowledge that electoral observation should respect the compliance with the political constitutions and juridical frameworks of each one of the countries in which it takes place; moreover, that in electoral observation the principles of objectivity, moderation, neutrality, impartiality and nonintervention should prevail, as recognized by the IX Conference of the Inter- American Union of Electoral Organizations (UNIORE) in September, Highlight the fact that electoral technical observation in the framework of the electoral organizations associations in the Americas has been and still is a valid instrument to accompany electoral organizations and to generate recommendations and exchange on proposals for the improvement of electoral regimes, for which its continuity is fostered, within the juridical and constitutional framework of each member country. 4. Highlight the fact that, as political participation is a wider universe than the one of electoral participation, civic education and political education constitute a space in which electoral organizations may have a significant impact by combining efforts with other key society actors for the development of democracy.

2 5. Commit the efforts of the electoral organizations composing the Association so that, in alliance with renowned academic entities in our countries and the Executive Secretariat, comparative studies are performed on the causes and implications that absenteeism has in our democratic regimes and the criteria to make its measurement comparative, and above all, the possibilities to increase the quantity and quality of political participation. 6. Acknowledge that it is urgent to identify and attend the different institutional aspects of the socio-economic context and individual motivations that may be limiting the political participation of the citizenship in our countries, with particular attention to the situation of youths, women and persons in conditions of poverty. The development of programs to inform, teach and train youths and women for the exercise of the right to elect and be elected is recommended. 7. Continue with the efforts to improve electoral cartography, the mechanisms for citizenship to approach the polling stations, the depuration and updating of the civil and electoral registers, the establishment of the criteria to fix the age to vote, the greater integration of native populations and ethnic groups, and in general, other initiatives that tend to increase political participation in our countries. 8. Suggest the programming of the elections by taking into account the territorial and borderline aspects, as well as the geographic, ethnic and climatic factors in the region to reduce absenteeism in member countries. 9. Promote the greater efforts and human, technical and budgetary resources for the permanent updating and depuration of civil and electoral registers, provided that this generates trustworthy electoral listings to facilitate the development of the elections in an environment of increased reliability and technical quality. 10. Ensure the strengthening of the electoral authorities of each one of the member countries to keep their functional, administrative and economic autonomy apart from the other State branches for the transparency and objectivity of their main activity. 11. Recommend taking into consideration new horizontal cooperation mechanisms, such as: Systematizing traineeships in work teams for the exchange of reciprocal electoral experiences among member electoral organizations. Homologizing the badges for the identification of international electoral observers in the different member countries. 2

3 Developing and sharing a comparative study of the electoral observation reports issued for each electoral process in member countries. Developing cooperation mechanisms to facilitate a feasible exchange of logistic electoral resources as a loan among the member electoral organizations. 12. Propitiate that the Protocol of Tikal Members implement the relevant measures in each one of their countries so that: Each electoral organization in the Region is elevated to State Branch category. The competence on the Civil Registry and citizen identity is under the mandate of the electoral tribunals. The implementation of all these initiatives will allow regional homologation and an exchange in a more integral horizontal cooperation, thus reinforcing the regional integration process. The Parliaments allocate enough budgets to develop the modernization activities of the identity document and the Civil Registry. 13. Reiterate the commitment of electoral organizations to actively contribute in the creation of the Latin American database of jurisprudential data that the Executive Secretariat is developing. 14. Renew gratitude to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica for its kind commitment to host the organization of the XXII Conference of the Central American and the Caribbean Electoral Organizations Association in year Moreover, take note of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala to be the site for the XXIV Conference of the Protocol of Tikal in year The Conference: CONGRATULATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks its gratitude to the Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua, for its careful organization, the generous and kind hospitality offered to the participating delegations, lecturers and special guests. Acknowledges the efforts to the officials of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and the Organizing Commission of the XXI Conference, for its excellent and efficient organization. Thanks the lecturers of the XXII Conference of the Protocol of Tikal for their contribution and practical utility of their thoughts and recommendations. 3

4 Thanks the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR), through its programmatic area, the Center for Electoral Assistance and Promotion (CAPEL), Executive Secretariat of the Central American and the Caribbean Electoral Organizations Association, for the work performed towards the strengthening of the Association and the support provided to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Nicaragua for the celebration of this Conference. Given in the City of Managua, Nicaragua, October 23, For the Supreme Electoral Council of Nicaragua Roberto Rivas Reyes Emmet Lang Salmerón Vice- José Luis Villavicencio José Marenco José Miguel Córdoba René Herrera Luis Enrique Benavides Julio César Osuna Emiliano Henríquez Marisol Castillo For the Electoral Commission of Antigua and Barbuda Obispo Ewing Dorsett 4

5 Member Anestercia Bailey-Davis Executive Secretary For the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Costa Rica Luis Antonio Sobrado González Eugenia Zamora For the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador Walter Araujo Morales Eugenio Chicas Martínez For the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of Guatemala María Eugenia Villagrán Marco Tulio Melini Minera For the National Elections Tribunal of Honduras Augusto Aguilar Jacobo Hernández 5

6 For the Electoral Advisory Commission of Jamaica Earl Simpson Assistant Director Field Operations Michael Williamson Regional Supervisor Field Operations For the Electoral Tribunal of Panama Sharon Sinclaire de Dumanoir Lourdes González For the Central Electoral Board of Dominican Republic John Guilliani Alejandro Vicini Director of International Protocol For the Electoral Office of St. Lucia Claudius Francis Member Michael Flood Member For the Executive Secretariat IIHR/CAPEL José Thompson Director 6