MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay completes Electoral Roll for 2009/10 voting calendar

Uruguay’s Electoral Roll for the coming October presidential and legislative elections was closed this week with the incorporation of 273.916 new voters. The total number of Uruguayans over 18 by April 2009, and which must vote (compulsory) in the coming elections, now totals 2.562.000.

On the deadline for registering long lines of young people queued for hours outside the Electoral Court offices since early dawn. An estimated 8.000 youngsters, to be first time voters, registered on the last day, according to the Electoral Court which in Uruguay is an independent government branch and the only entitled to interpret electoral legislation and responsible for organization on election day.

The final and updated electoral roll is expected to be ready by mid May with the incorporation of the new 273.000 names and elimination of the estimated 120.000 deceased between 2005 and April 2009. This means on time for the party primaries scheduled for next June 28th (when voting is not compulsory) and for the October general election when a successor of President Tabare Vazquez will be voted as well as a new Senate and Lower House.

The elected-president must garner 50% plus one of the vote in October, if not a run off takes place a month later.

The new electoral roll will also give an idea of how many votes are needed to become a member of the Uruguayan Senate, which has 30 benches, and are elected on a national basis. The “price” in votes for the 99 seats of the Lower House, depends on the registries of each of the 19 departments into which Uruguay is divided.

According to the latest estimate of 2.56 million voters it can be said that a Senate bench will demand 85.400 votes compared to the 74.300 of the 2004 election. For the Lower House it will depend on the voters’ registry of each of the 19 departments, with a minimum number of two representatives for the least populated circumscriptions.

Those Uruguayans over 18 who did not register and therefore have no voters’ ID, will be exposed to an immediate practical sanction and that is they can not aspire to any government job (quite important in Uruguay) and will have difficulties with any dealings with government offices.

Similarly if they don’t vote and don’t have their electoral ID stamped, they will be forced to pay a fine equivalent to approximately 40 US dollars.

The Uruguayan electoral calendar also includes municipal elections in the 19 departments June 2010.