Nicaraguan Elections Marred by Violence and Claims of Fraud

Three people have been killed and dozens injured in violence that followed a sweeping victory for Nicaragua’s ruling Sandinista party in local elections marred by claims of widespread fraud.

With over 90% of the vote counted, President Daniel Ortega’s Sandanista Front (FSLN) laid claim to 76% of the vote and control of 134 out of 153 municipalities - up from 108.

Sporadic violence erupted around the country as the results came in, with opposition supporters claiming fraud clashing with Sandanistas and security forces. One Sandanista supporter was killed in Jarico, while two members of the opposition Independent Liberal Party (PLI) were killed in the city of Dario, where  the PLI claims they won by more than 1,500 votes, but the Sandinistas are trying to force the local election leader to sign a falsified vote tally handing victory to the FSLN

The U.S. State Department was quick to condemn the elections as “lacking transparency” and being “rife with irregularities and voter fraud,” according to Businessweek. The department highlighted incidences of citizens being denied the right to vote, a failure to respect the secrecy of citizens’ votes, and reported cases of voters being allowed to vote multiple times

According to a preliminary report by electoral watchdog the Institute for Development and Democracy (IPADE), up to 20% of voters were excluded from the polls because they did not appear on either of the two voter registries. An IPADE spokesman said it was not yet clear whether this was due to the Supreme Electoral Council’s (CSE) technical incompetence or an issue of political manipulation.

The Nicaraguan Dispatch features a detailed analysis of the election, concluding the Sandanista’s would have won easily without any rigging and in allegedly doing so have “managed to turn another slam-dunk election into a Pyrrhic victory, similar to 2008 and 2011 when the Sandinistas won locally yet lost international credibility.”

In a side issue, the elections were the first since a reform passed requiring at least 50% of candidates put forward by parties to be women. It was also the first time Nicaragua has used its “Independent Electoral Citizen Observation Platform,” which encourages citizen monitoring of the elections through social media.

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