21st CONFERENCE
ASSOCIATION OF ELECTORAL ORGANIZATIONS OF CENTRAL
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
(Tikal Protocol)
25 and 26 June, 2007
As delegates representing the electoral organizations in Antigua and Barbuda, Costa Rica,
Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama and Saint
Lucia, meeting together for the 21st Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of
Central America and the Caribbean, in San Salvador, El Salvador from June 25 to 26, 2007, in our
capacity a members of the Tikal Protocol,
Reaffirming our faith in democracy as the system that, based on the indispensable foundation of
elections, allows peoples and individuals to fully exercise and enjoy their civil and political, economic,
social and cultural rights, and following our deliberations,
WE AGREE
1. To approve the Progress Report submitted by the Executive Secretariat for the period from
September 2006 through May 2007.
2. To reassert that the Association has become a dynamic mechanism of communication for
developing horizontal cooperation among the electoral organizations; it has contributed visibly to
the political processes of democratization in Central America and the Caribbean and has wrought
a significant increase in the training of mid-level managers and electoral officials, creating
specialized knowledge in the technical field of elections.
3. To note that the member organizations of the Association have renewed our commitment to
contribute to the database of jurisprudence and have instructed the Executive Secretariat to
continue its work in this area so as to support and reinforce this facet of electoral activity; and to
recognize that this was a key factor in moving closer to our vision of having a practical tool to guide
21st Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
better decision-making through comparative experiences. The best evidence of this was the
decision by the host organization of this Conference to present a detailed analysis of the scope of
electoral jurisprudence and of other relevant decisions in the region, as well as the substantial
contributions made by other members of the Association to the invaluable exchange of ideas and
the presentation of highly relevant topics in this field.
4. To emphasize that, regardless of the conceptual scope of the term "electoral jurisprudence," the
electoral organizations of the region, in the exercise of their constitutional and legal responsibilities,
produce a rich body of specialized doctrine through their jurisdictional rulings and other decisions
or pronouncements of a general character. Moreover, relevant international rulings on issues
related to democracy and political rights are also taken into consideration as a source of reference
material.
5. To clarify that, in addition to specific topics readily addressed through a database resulting from
documentation of electoral jurisprudence, such as principles of electoral interpretation,
fundamental electoral rights, the electoral process, administrative electoral bodies, electoral
justice, political parties, political financing, the electoral system, mechanisms of direct democracy,
and special forms of voting, participation and representation, it is important to learn about progress
being made in other countries of the region in such specialized fields as the regulation of
campaign advertising by electoral organizations as a means to assure political equality, or cases
of electoral crimes or offenses. Accordingly, we instruct the Executive Secretariat to produce
a comparative table of electoral sanctions by topic, including judicial convictions
handed down by electoral organizations entrusted with this jurisdiction, for the
purpose of exchanging opinions on the effectiveness of this system of sanctions.
6. To congratulate the Executive Secretariat for its efforts to foster working meetings with the
participation of the electoral organizations of the Tikal Protocol and UNIORE as a place to begin
conceptualizing the notion of electoral jurisprudence and designing criteria for establishing it
formally. For this purpose, the members of the Association undertake to study and expand these
criteria and contribute to the database that will evolve through the application of this project for
academic research and promotion of political rights.
7. To instruct the Executive Secretariat to develop suitable follow-up mechanisms, with the
participation of electoral organizations that are members of the Association, for implementing the
project on documentation of electoral jurisprudence.
8. To take note of progress that the electoral organizations of the region have made in jurisprudential
and technical responses to such areas as political participation and inclusion, rulings handed
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
down within the structure of parliamentary systems, regulation and internal democratization of
parties, electoral processes with close outcomes, regulations on opinion polls and the media.
9. To urge the countries to consolidate and develop initiatives for encouraging political participation
by women, regardless of the type or degree of mechanisms used in each country for the
registration of candidates; and to suggest that "political participation by women in Central America
and the Caribbean" be adopted as the theme of the 22nd Conference of the Association.
10. To take note that many initiatives were undertaken in the Americas during the year 2007 in the
field of vital statistics and electoral rolls, and to explore the possibility of addressing this matter
comprehensively and systematically in future activities under the Tikal Protocol.
11. To salute the Tribunal Electoral of Panama for its contribution to disseminating information on
political and electoral conditions in the member countries through the Servicio Internacional de
Noticias Electorales (SINE), and to urge the member organizations to draw on this source of
information, available in both Spanish and English.
12. To accept the generous offer of Nicaragua's Consejo Supremo Electoral to sponsor the 22nd
Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean in
2008. Moreover, to accept the proposal by the Costa Rican Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones to
host the 23rd Conference of the Tikal Protocol in 2009.
CONGRATULATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Conference:
Expresses its gratitude to the Tribunal Supremo Electoral of the Republic of El Salvador, its President
Walter Araujo and its judges, for their diligent organizational work and for the generous and warm
hospitality they have extended to participating delegations, speakers and special guests.
Extends its recognition of staff members of the Tribunal Supremo Electoral and the organizing
committee for the excellent, efficient organization of this 21st Conference.
Unanimously thanks Carlos Urruty for his masterly dissertation "The role of the judge in building and
consolidating democracy" and Fernando Ojesto and Fernando Tuesta for their excellent
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presentations on a variety of topics associated with electoral jurisprudence and other relevant
decisions and rulings.
Thanks the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights (IIHR), through its Center for Electoral
Promotion and Assistance (CAPEL), which serves as Executive Secretariat of the Association of
Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean, Executive Director Roberto Cuéllar,
CAPEL Director José Thompson and staff for the work they have done to strengthen the Association
and for their support of the Tribunal Supremo Electoral of El Salvador in holding this conference.
Done in the city of San Salvador, El Salvador, June 26, 2007.
For the Tribunal Supremo Electoral of El Salvador
Walter Araujo Morales
President
Eugenio Chicas Martínez
Judge
Julio E. Moreno Niños
Judge
Eduardo Antonio Urquilla
Judge
Mario Salamanca Burgos
Judge
Francisco Edgardo Monge
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
Alternate Judge
Tribunal Supremo Electoral
Silvia Idalia Cartagena Martínez
Alternate Judge
Tribunal Supremo Electoral
Oscar Morales
Alternate Judge
Tribunal Supremo Electoral
Carlos Mauricio Molina Fonseca
Alternate Judge
Tribunal Supremo Electoral
José Antonio Hernández
Alternate Judge
Tribunal Supremo Electoral
For the Electoral Commission of Antigua and Barbuda
Nathaniel James
Deputy Chairman
Lorna E. Simon
Supervisor of Elections
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21st Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
For the Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones of Costa Rica
Luis Antonio Sobrado González
President
Zetty Bou Valverde
Judge
For the Tribunal Supremo Electoral of Guatemala
Oscar Edmundo Bolaños Parada
President
Dinorah Recinos Cueto de Roche
Alternate Judge
For the Tribunal Nacional de Elecciones of Honduras
Augusto Aguilar
Judge
For the Electoral Advisory Commission of Jamaica
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
Orrette Fisher
Assistant Director-Administration
Pauline Welsh
Trainer and Research Officer
For the Consejo Supremo Electoral of Nicaragua
Roberto Rivas Reyes
President
José Luis Villavicencio
Judge
Rodrigo Barreto
Chief of Protocol
For the Tribunal Electoral of Panama
Erasmo Pinilla
President
Yara Campo
Alternate Judge
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21st Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007
For the Junta Central Electoral of the Dominican Republic
Aura Celeste Fernández
Judge
Leyda Margarita del Socorro Piña Medrano
Judge
For the Electoral Office of Saint Lucia
Claudius Francis
Member
Carson Raggie
Chief Elections Officer
For the Executive Secretariat
IIHR/CAPEL
José Thompson
Director
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21st Conference of the Association of Electoral Organizations of Central America and the Caribbean
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San Salvador, El Salvador, June 25 and 26, 2007