STEP: the National Electoral Chamber approved the sanitary protocol in the framework of Covid 19

The “Health Protocol for the prevention of COVID-19 – National Elections 2021”, prepared jointly by the National Electoral Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Health, was approved by means of the Extraordinary Agreement No. 83, the Chamber reported in a statement.

– The provisions seek to avoid the crowding of people and to reduce the capacity, it will be sought not to enable more than eight voting tables per establishment.

– The implementation of a priority time slot between 10.30 am and 12.30 pm is established for people who are part of risk groups.

– The protocol foresees the use of personal protection and hygiene elements and training the table authorities “predominantly by non-contact means”.

– The figure of the health facilitator is incorporated , whose function will be to enforce the health measures for the prevention of coronavirus.

– In each district, the federal justice with electoral competence will determine the voting procedure for voters who present obvious symptoms compatible with Covid-19 and who demand to exercise their right to vote.

In addition, the document requires the collaboration of the political parties for the correct development of the electoral process.

In this sense, it urges political groups to, in order to reduce the capacity of the voting establishments, to maintain “simultaneously within each voting establishment the minimum necessary number of party prosecutors.” Likewise, it requests collaboration to minimize the manipulation of voting envelopes.

The text of the agreement of the National Electoral Chamber also confirms in its article 9 that the consultation of the registry and the reception and processing of claims will be enabled throughout the country by digital means, “through the site www.padron.gob. ar , within the terms provided by the electoral schedule “.

In this context, it ordered that ” the specific grounds for justifying the non- casting of the vote ( infractores.padron.gob.ar ) be incorporated into the portal enabled to consult the Registry of offenders and requests for justification of not casting the vote”, so that “Those who, on the date of the election, are complying with isolation protocols for COVID-19 request through the Internet the justification for not casting the vote.”

On July 31, the National Electoral Directorate defined the functions and scope of the tasks to be fulfilled by the more than 17,000 health facilitators who will perform, for the first time, in the PASO elections and in the general elections in November, as a result of the pandemic. of coronavirus.

On that occasion, the National Electoral Director, Diana Quiodo, explained that “the health situation made it necessary to find a way to guarantee the safest conditions to hold these elections” and said that the health facilitator “will be a member of the General Electoral Command.”

“Therefore, he will be a member of the National Armed Forces or Security Forces,” Quiodo said.

The people who fulfill these tasks will have a distinctive identification that will facilitate their recognition and will have exclusive dedication.

Thus, the facilitators will have the task of ordering the entry of voters so as not to saturate the internal capacity of the premises, verify the use of face masks, enforce the social distancing of 2 meters between people, and control that the maximum capacity of attendance is met in polling places.

In addition, they must control and encourage respect for social norms of physical contact in a pandemic, avoid crowds of people, especially in closed spaces, and enforce queues outside by observing preventive measures.