Page 65 - Anatomy-of-a-Fraud

CHAPTER II

ELECTIONS AND VOTE COUNTING

1. ELECTIONS

We now arrive to the center of our story.

Sunday, May 6, was a sunny and balmy day. It was also a joyful occasion, a day
to remember. Many Panamanians woke up earlier than usual and were already standing
in line by 7:00 a.m., when precincts opened their doors. Voters waited patiently in line;
hope, optimism, comradery prevailed everywhere. It was the first time in 16 long years
that the Panamanian people had gone to the polls to elect the president of the republic.
Voter turnout was extremely high.

For many of us, Sunday, May 6, was the first time that we exercised the right
of suffrage. I recalled the odd feeling of disappointment I experienced when I first saw
the ballots. Surely these insignificant, faded pieces of paper, flimsier than newsprint,
could not be that most sacred instrument of democracy over which many Panamanians
had endured persecution, exile and even paid the ultimate price. Unconsciously, I had
imagined a ballot printed on glossy cardboard, perhaps with the national coat of arms
embossed in gold a small shiny flag. My disappointment lasted but a few seconds.

A. The “Cybernetic” Fraud

Tens of thousands of citizens suffered an even serious and alarming
disappointment. Their names simply failed to appear on official voter registration rolls.
After having waited patiently in line for one or two hours –and, at home, for 16 years–
, they were prevented from voting. Their names were nowhere to be found in the all-
powerful official list. Heated arguments were to no avail, even when the
disenfranchised voter was able to prove that he had been included in the 1982 electoral
census. There was nothing that could be done; he who does not show in the rolls cannot
vote. Unless, of course, he happens to be for the government, thousands of pro-
government electors, excluded from the list, were nevertheless able to vote. More of
this later.

What had happened? How could it be possible, for instance, that Jorge
Vásquez J., running for alternate legislator on the PDC ticket, or Herasto Reyes,
seeking election as a legislator on the Socialist Workers Party ticket, whose registration