CHAPTER IX. ELECTORAL SERVICE AND ELECTORAL JUSTICE
ARTICLE 94 BIS
An autonomous body with legal personality and patrimony of its own, called Electoral Service will exercise the administration, supervision and control of electoral processes and plebiscites; of the compliance with rules on transparency, limit and control of electoral spending; of the norms on political parties, and the other functions that a constitutional organic law establishes.
The senior management of the Electoral Service will correspond to a Directive Council, which shall exclusively exercise the powers conferred to it by the Constitutions and the laws. This Council will be composed of five Counselors appointed by the President of the Republic, with the agreement of the Senate, adopted by two-thirds of its active members. The Counselors will serve ten years in office, may not be appointed for another term and will be partially renewed every two years.
The Counselors may only be removed by the Supreme Court, at the request of the President of the Republic or one-third of the active members of the House of Representative, on the grounds of a serious violation of the Constitution or the laws, inability, misconduct or gross negligence in the exercise of their functions. The Court will hear the case in plenum, specially convened for that purpose, and for there to be agreement on the removal there will have to be an affirmative vote of the majority of its active members.
The organization and powers of the Electoral Service shall be established by a constitutional organic law. It’s organization, staffing, regime of remunerations and employment statute of its personnel will be established by a law.
ARTICLE 95
A special court, called Election Qualifying Court, will take cognizance of the general scrutiny and of the certification of the elections of President of the Republic, of representatives and senators; will resolve the claims which rise from them and will proclaim those who result elected. The Court will also take cognizance, equally, of the plebiscites, and will have the other powers prescribed by the law.
It shall be composed of five members appointed as follows:
- Four Justices of the Supreme Court, appointed by it, by lottery, in the manner and time that the respective constitutional organic law determines, and
- A citizen who has held the position of President or Vice-President of the House of Representatives or of the Senate by a period on not less than 365 days, appointed by the Supreme Court in the manner described in letter a) above, from all of those who possess the qualities mentioned.
The appointments that letter b) refers to may not fall on persons that are parliamentarians, candidates to positions of popular election, Ministers of State, or leaders of political parties.
The members of this Court will serve four years in office and the provisions of articles 58 and 59 of this Constitution shall be applicable to them.
The Election Qualifying Court will proceed as a jury in the assessment of the facts and will sentence according to law.
A constitutional organic law will regulate the organization and functioning of the Election Qualifying Court.
ARTICLE 96
There will be regional electoral courts in charge of taking cognizance of the general scrutiny and the certification of the elections that the law entrusts to them, will resolve the claims which rise from them and will proclaim those who result elected. Their decisions are appealable to the Election Qualifying Court in the manner prescribed by law. Also, the cognizance of the certification of elections of a guild character and of those that take place in those intermediate groups indicated by law will correspond to them.
These courts shall be composed by a Justice of the respective Court of Appeals, elected by it, and by two members designated by the Election Qualifying Court from all of those people that have exercised the profession of lawyer or who have played the role of Justice or lawyer member of the Court of Appeals for a term of no less than three years.
Members of these courts will serve four years in office and will have the ineligibilities and incompatibilities established by law.
These courts will proceed as juries in the assessment of the facts and will sentence according to law.
The law shall determine the other powers of these courts and will regulate their organization and functioning.
ARTICLE 97
Annually, the funds needed for the organization and functioning of these courts, whose staffing, regime of remunerations and employment statute of the personnel shall be established by law, will be assigned in the Budget Law.
