FOREIGN

ASSISTANCE

Peru on Track for Free

and Fair Elections but

Faces Major Challenges

Statement of Susan S. Westin, Managing Director

International Affairs and Trade

United States General Accounting Office

GAO Testimony

Before the Committee on International Relations,

Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere,

House of Representatives

For Release on Delivery

Expected at

2 p.m., EST

Wednesday,

March 14, 2001

GAO-01-496T
Page 1 GAO-01-496T

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:

I am pleased to have the opportunity today to discuss the results of our review of U.S.

assistance to Peru’s efforts to conduct free and fair presidential and congressional

elections in 2001.

As you know, last year’s Peruvian presidential and congressional elections were

considered flawed by Peruvian and international observers. The organizations observing

the elections, including the Organization of American States, shared the view that the

repeated irregularities in the electoral process prevented the Peruvian citizenry from

participating in credible democratic elections. As a result, President Alberto Fujimori

began his third presidential term under a cloud of illegitimacy in late July 2000.

In September 2000, President Fujimori’s hold on power began to crumble, with the

release of videotapes depicting the widespread corruption affecting the Fujimori

administration. Further events last fall led to the November congressional ousting of

Fujimori, the installation of an interim government headed by President Valentin

Paniagua, and preparations for a new round of elections. These new presidential and

congressional elections will take place on April 8, 2001, with the likely second round

between the top two presidential candidates taking place in May 2001. The new Peruvian

President and congress will assume power in late July 2001.

In order to support President Paniagua’s efforts to remedy past election abuses and

strengthen the electoral process, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for

International Development, is providing $7 million in election-related assistance to Peru.

At your request, we (1) identified the steps the current Peruvian government has taken to

ensure a free and fair electoral process in Peru; (2) reviewed the U.S. election-related

assistance to Peru to determine whether it had been timely, responsive, and coordinated

with other donors; and (3) identified some of the major challenges that Peru faces before

the first round of presidential and congressional elections.
Page 2 GAO-01-496T

We based our work on interviews with officials from the Peruvian government, including

the three Peruvian electoral agencies and the Ombudsman’s Office (Defensoria del

Pueblo); members of the news media and public opinion research organizations; leaders

from civic, business, and religious institutions; representatives from the State

Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the U.S. embassy and

agency’s mission in Peru; officials from other bilateral and multilateral donor

organizations; and representatives from organizations implementing international

election-related assistance to support electoral observation efforts, fund technical

assistance efforts, and support the delivery of electoral information. We also reviewed

key documents assessing the April 2000 Peruvian elections and describing the U.S. and

other donors’ election-related assistance for the 2001 elections. We visited Peru for 2

weeks, from February 11 to February 24, 2001, and we updated the information collected

in Peru by following up on contacts made in Washington, D.C., and Peru.

SUMMARY

The Peruvian government has acted decisively to address the serious problems that

affected last year’s elections. The Paniagua administration has committed itself to

ensuring the neutrality of the government and the armed forces during the upcoming

elections, including prohibiting the use of government resources for political purposes.

Also, the government named new leaders to two electoral agencies--those responsible for

overseeing and implementing the elections--and these leaders have emphasized their full

commitment to conducting free and fair elections.

The U.S. Agency for International Development’s election-related assistance has been

timely, responsive, and coordinated with other donors. For example, the agency has

expeditiously programmed and disbursed its election-related assistance to support

various aspects of the electoral process. The agency’s election-related assistance has

also been responsive to Peru’s needs by funding electoral observation efforts before and

during the elections; supporting technical assistance efforts to the Peruvian electoral

agencies; and funding the delivery of election-related information to voters, journalists,
Page 3 GAO-01-496T

candidates, and political parties. In addition, the agency has coordinated its electionrelated assistance with the other international donors, such as Canada and the European

Union, that are also helping Peru hold democratic elections in 2001.

While Peru appears to be on track to conduct free and fair elections in 2001, Peru faces

several important challenges over the next 3-1/2 weeks before the first round of

elections. Specifically, these challenges involve the following issues.

The two electoral agencies responsible for, respectively, overseeing and

implementing the elections have experienced major changes in leadership and

staffing. These new leaders and staff are working hard to overcome their

inexperience in overseeing and conducting national elections.

The electoral agency responsible for implementing the elections will continue to face

very tight time frames for preparing voting materials, distributing and collecting

ballots and related documents, arranging for the development and testing of

computer systems for tabulating and transmitting voting results, getting ready for

processing voting information on election day, and releasing information on the

results of the vote.

The two electoral agencies responsible for overseeing and implementing the elections

are in the process of hiring about 15,000 temporary workers. These personnel need to

be screened, trained, and put in place throughout the country.

Because these two electoral agencies had initially disagreed on the nature and extent

of oversight that one exercises over the other, these agencies have to ensure that

potential disagreements do not interfere with the work of these institutions. Recent

reports note an increasing level of cooperation between the leaders of these electoral

agencies.
Page 4 GAO-01-496T

These two electoral agencies need to educate as many as 15 million voters on the

recent changes to the electoral system and on how to vote their choices on

complicated multiparty and multidistrict ballots.

The presidential and congressional candidates face a major difficulty in getting their

messages to the Peruvian public, because public attention is focused on the daily

unveiling of videotapes depicting the corruption that permeated the Fujimori regime.

BACKGROUND

Peru’s April 2000 elections took place amid a climate of intimidation and corruption that

favored the campaign of President Fujimori. Opposition candidates for the presidency

and for congress were harassed by the government-controlled media and by government

agencies, including tax authorities. Several organizations involved in observing the 2000

Peruvian elections, such as the Organization of American States; the National

Democratic Institute/Carter Center; and Transparencia, a Peruvian nongovernmental

organization, documented the many abuses of the Fujimori administration’s conduct of

the election. The National Democratic Institute/Carter Center considered the election to

be “among the worst ever observed in this hemisphere.”

Although President Fujimori assumed his third term of office in July 2000, his hold on

power began to crumble in mid-September 2000 with the release of a videotape revealing

an effort to bribe a member of the Peruvian congress. Vladimiro Montesinos, the chief of

the National Intelligence Service, had made this and hundreds of other videotapes of

high-ranking Peruvian government officials, members of the media, businessmen, and

private citizens. Many of these tapes documented the corruption that permeated the

Fujimori administration, such as attempts to blackmail or bribe some of these

individuals. Montesinos left Peru for Panama in September 2000. After returning to Peru

in late October, Montesinos went into hiding and is believed to have left the country.

While visiting Japan in late November, President Fujimori resigned from the presidency.

The Peruvian congress rejected his resignation and voted to remove him from office.
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Valentin Paniagua succeeded to the presidency on November 22, 2000. Also, the

Peruvian congress, responding to the popular demand for democratic elections, passed a

constitutional reform and a related electoral law in November 2000 scheduling new

presidential and congressional elections for April 8, 2001. If no presidential candidate

wins over 50 percent of the vote, a second round of elections will take place between the

top two presidential candidates in May 2001. The new Peruvian President will assume

power on July 28, 2001.

Peru has three electoral agencies--the National Elections Tribunal (Jurado Nacional de

Elecciones, JNE), the National Office for Electoral Processes (Oficina Nacional de

Procesos Electorales, ONPE), and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status

(Registro Nacional de Identificacion y Estado Civil, RENIEC). The JNE is responsible

for overseeing the entire electoral process, including administering justice on electoral

matters, maintaining a registry of political organizations, inscribing political candidates,

and proclaiming the winners of elections. The ONPE is responsible for organizing and

implementing elections, including preparing and distributing ballots and related voting

materials, running the elections on election day, and reporting information on the results

of the elections. The RENIEC is responsible for preparing the electoral registry; issuing

national identification cards; and registering births, deaths, and marriages.

In response to the new opportunity for Peru to conduct credible presidential and

congressional elections, the United States and other international donors began

supporting efforts to help Peru conduct free and fair elections. Since December 2000,

the United States has provided $7 million to Peru for holding free and fair elections in

2001, more than half of the international assistance provided to Peru for this purpose.

The European Union and various European countries have provided the second largest

amount of election-related assistance to Peru. (See app. I.)

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), through various implementing

organizations, has provided this $7 million in election-related assistance to Peru. (See

app. II.) Specifically, about half of this assistance funds technical assistance for the two
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main Peruvian electoral agencies, the JNE and the ONPE. Another third of the

assistance supports electoral observation activities conducted by both Peruvian and

international organizations. The remaining U.S. assistance funds electoral information

activities conducted by Peruvian organizations in support of voters, journalists, political

candidates, and political parties. (See app. III for a description of selected organizations

mentioned in this statement.)

PERU HAS TAKEN MEASURES NEEDED

TO CONDUCT FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN 2001

Peru’s political environment has fundamentally improved since last year’s election

period, as a result of the collapse of the Fujimori administration and the actions taken by

the Paniagua administration and the Peruvian congress since late November 2000.

The Paniagua administration is committed to ensuring the neutrality of the government

and the armed forces during the elections. For example, the Paniagua administration

forbade the use of public office or government resources for political purposes. Also,

President Paniagua removed many high-ranking military officers and government

officials from their positions due to their allegiance to the Fujimori regime and in order

to ensure his control over the government.

The Peruvian government replaced the heads of the two major electoral agencies, which

are in charge of overseeing and implementing the elections, because these agencies had

played a central part in last year’s election abuses. The new head of the electoral agency

in charge of implementing the elections (the ONPE) subsequently fired about 80 percent

of the agency’s 200 permanent staff. According to Peruvian media representatives, these

restructured electoral agencies are more trusted by the electorate.

To strengthen the rule of law, President Paniagua replaced the Attorney General and

emphasized the independence of the Attorney General position. The government of Peru

also reinstated three justices of the Constitutional Tribunal who had been removed from
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office because they opposed a law authorizing President Fujimori to seek a third term.

In addition, the Peruvian government addressed various deficiencies of the justice

system, such as eliminating the use of temporary judges who had seriously compromised

the independence of the judiciary.

Also, a special congressional commission and an independent prosecutor began

investigating the illicit activities carried out by the Fujimori administration. They have

paid special attention to the hundreds of videotapes that were seized from Vladimiro

Montesino’s house (referred to as “Vladivideos”). Tapes have been released almost daily

and played on television for everyone to see.

In addition, the Paniagua administration and the Peruvian congress have improved the

electoral legislation. To increase the representation of local interests in the congress,

congressional representatives will now be selected not from a single district, but from 25

electoral districts. The proportion of women candidates legally required on party lists

per district increased from 25 percent to 30 percent. Also, all political parties and groups

participating in the elections are receiving 10 free minutes per day on the broadcast

media during the 60 days preceding election day, with government funds covering the

cost of the free time.

Moreover, in contrast to last year’s election period, the government is providing no

direction and exercising no influence over the news media, according to all our contacts

in Peru. The government also returned television channels 2 and 13, which had opposed

the Fujimori regime, to their rightful owners.

However, we met with numerous observers who were concerned about the potential for

remnants of the Fujimori regime to influence the election atmosphere and results. In

particular, these observers expressed concerns that Montesinos’ domestic network

would try to find ways to discredit or sabotage the elections.
Page 8 GAO-01-496T

For these reasons, we would describe the current political atmosphere in Peru as

improved but somewhat uneasy about possible threats from remnants of the Fujimori

regime. In this context, the presence of the international donor community serves to

contribute to the stability of the interim administration and the conduct of free and fair

elections.

U.S. ELECTION-RELATED ASSISTANCE TO PERU

HAS BEEN TIMELY, RESPONSIVE, AND COORDINATED

The $7 million in U.S. election-related assistance to Peru has been provided on time, has

been responsive to Peruvian needs, and has been coordinated with other donors.

The United States has provided its election-related assistance to Peru on a timely basis,

according to representatives from the three Peruvian electoral agencies, other donors

providing similar assistance to Peru, and organizations implementing the U.S. and other

donors’ assistance. In December 2000, the electoral agencies responsible for overseeing

and implementing the elections started to get organized. During this period, USAID

started to work with subcontractors to design the needed assistance efforts. USAID also

supported an independent evaluation in late December of the electoral registry that will

be used during the 2001 elections. This evaluation was requested by the electoral agency

responsible for overseeing the electoral process, and it was conducted by a Peruvian

nongovernmental organization funded by USAID. Based on this review, officials from the

electoral agencies are confident that the electoral registry is adequate and comparable to

electoral registries used in other countries in the region.

In January 2001, while the two electoral agencies responsible for respectively overseeing

and implementing the elections were undertaking major reorganization efforts, USAID

started to provide technical assistance to both agencies. USAID began providing the

bulk of its technical assistance to these agencies through two international contractors

in February 2001. Later that month, USAID provided additional funding for technical

assistance directly to the ONPE. Although USAID was ready to start providing the
Page 9 GAO-01-496T

funding earlier, the agency had to delay delivering this funding until the ONPE had all the

required internal controls and qualified staff in place, according to U.S. and Peruvian

officials.

U.S. officials noted that the USAID election-related assistance to Peru had been

programmed, approved, and delivered faster than any other USAID assistance to Peru

this year. Officials from other donors’ institutions commended the level and the speed of

the election-related assistance that the United States gave to Peru, highlighting that this

U.S. assistance had been provided much more quickly than the assistance their

institutions gave.

The U.S. election-related assistance has been responsive to the current needs of Peru in

the areas of technical assistance, electoral observation, and electoral information,

according to representatives from the three Peruvian electoral agencies, other donors

providing similar assistance to Peru, and organizations implementing the U.S. and other

donors’ assistance. According to these representatives, the United States has provided

an appropriate mix of different types of electoral assistance to Peru. The technical

assistance directly helps the agencies overseeing and conducting the elections; the

electoral information activities benefit the voters; and the assistance for observation

efforts helps ensure the transparency and legitimacy of the elections.

USAID’s $7 million in assistance includes the following:

-- $3.3 million in technical assistance, including

$1.52 million to the ONPE for training pollworkers, educating citizens, setting up the

new Voter Ombudsman in coordination with the Ombudsman’s Office, and setting up

the International Cooperation Office to help the ONPE strengthen its ability to

manage donor contributions for the elections.

$1.3 million to the International Foundation for Electoral Systems to help the ONPE

in the areas of election administration, information management, and electoral
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education and training. This organization is also providing limited assistance to the

JNE in the areas of electoral training; design of electoral education programs and

materials; and reconstruction of the computer systems, which were destroyed in a

fire in July 2000.

$478,438 to the Centro de Asesoria y Promocion Electoral to help the JNE carry out

its oversight role during the elections.

-- $2.4 million to support electoral observations, including

$767,349 to the National Democratic Institute/Carter Center to fund two pre-electoral

assessments, an international observation mission on election day, and a small, onthe-ground presence during the pre-electoral period.

$602,534 to Transparencia to fund a comprehensive, Peruvian observation effort

during the pre-electoral period, field 20,000 observers on election day, and conduct a

quick count of the results of the presidential race.

$600,000 to the Organization of American States to support an international electoral

observation mission throughout the pre-electoral period and on election day.

$400,000 to the Ombudsman’s Office to fund 15 supervision modules/units around

Peru focused on receipt and follow-up of election-related complaints prior to the

elections and election day, and a random supervision of election day activities.

-- $1.3 million to fund the electoral information activities, including

$429,949 to Promujer to conduct electoral education focused on women and to

promote the participation of women candidates in television programs, discussion

forums, and debates.

$394,315 to Servicios Educativos Rurales to train a network of election promoters

who will develop orientation and electoral education activities and materials in 37

provinces in rural areas.

$294,382 to the Instituto de Dialogo y Propuestas, in collaboration with two other

Peruvian nongovernmental organizations, to fund a national campaign for responsible
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and informed voting through intensive and massive use of local radio and regional

television networks and a special campaign aimed at younger voters.

$189,300 to Transparencia to inform and educate trainers, party pollwatchers,

pollworkers, and election observers from Transparencia in the electoral process.

The United States has regularly coordinated its election-related assistance with the other

donors. The organizations responsible for implementing the technical assistance

provided by the international community to the two main Peruvian electoral agencies

also coordinate their activities. Since December 2000, a donor coordinating committee

has met weekly to coordinate international election-related assistance efforts. While

conducting fieldwork in Peru, we attended a donor coordinating committee meeting and

a coordinating meeting of the organizations responsible for implementing the donors’

assistance. We observed that the donors were aware of each other’s specific activities

and that the donors and the implementing organizations exchanged information and

discussed current issues.

PERU’S ELECTORAL CHALLENGES

The challenges facing Peru at this point are primarily managerial and logistical, although

the undercurrent of political uneasiness about the possible continued influence of

Montesinos and his network affects the election atmosphere.

First Challenge

The initial challenge for the new leaders of the electoral agencies has been the need to

learn the day-to-day tasks of how to conduct elections, while reorganizing their agencies.

The new head of the ONPE is a recognized university professor who is an expert on

election systems, but he first started at the ONPE only on December 8, 2000. He had to

fire over 80 percent of the ONPE staff, screen and hire replacement staff, and begin

arranging all the election preparations. The top leadership at the JNE was also replaced
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and has had to decide how to carry out its oversight role in the electoral process,

because in last year’s election the JNE played virtually no oversight role.

Second Challenge

A second key challenge facing the new electoral authorities is the need to adhere to an

extremely tight timetable for setting up electoral processes, preparing voting materials,

planning the logistics of distributing and collecting the ballots, and arranging for the

development and testing of computer software for counting the ballots. Peru is a country

where voting is mandatory for all citizens between the ages of 18 and 70 (with certain

exceptions, for example, excluding the military and the police from voting). It is also a

country where its mix of mountainous, jungle, and coastal terrain presents special

logistical problems for conducting elections. We were told that in numerous areas of the

mountains and jungles, Peruvians may have to walk a full day or more in order to get to a

voting station. And distributing and collecting the ballots to the approximately 90,000

voting stations around Peru is a difficult task that may require the use of military

personnel and vehicles to reach some rural locations. The ONPE has established its

timetable for accomplishing its specific goals, and while the agency is proceeding on

schedule, it has little room in the schedule to accommodate unexpected delays. We note

that the ONPE has built into this timetable measures designed to help ensure the smooth

running of the elections. These include, for example, provisions for running two

simulations of the vote counting, 1 and 2 weeks before the election, in order to test the

vote tabulation processes, including the new computer software.

Third Challenge

A related, third challenge is the need for the ONPE and the JNE to hire and train about

15,000 temporary workers to staff their regional offices around the country and the

voting stations and collection points on election day. These workers are needed only

during the election period. Because last year’s elections were so corrupt, the ONPE and

the JNE have had to screen the lists of potential new staff to make sure the new workers
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were not involved with previous electoral abuses. Screening this many new people in

such a short period of time is a difficult task, and there is concern among observers in

Peru that Montesinos’ network may still find a way to infiltrate the electoral processes.

Fourth Challenge

A fourth, management-related challenge lies in the need for the JNE and the ONPE to

continue to agree on the nature and extent of oversight that the former can exercise on

the latter, so that no disagreements emerge that may interfere with the work of these

organizations. The JNE, as the top electoral agency responsible for announcing the

official results of the election, has recently sought to exercise its oversight

responsibilities over the overall electoral process, including the ONPE’s efforts to

conduct the elections. Due to the very tight timetable for this election, the two agencies

need to continue working together closely and cooperatively to accomplish their shared

goals expeditiously.

Fifth Challenge

A fifth challenge is to educate up to 15 million voters on the recent changes to the

electoral process and on how to vote their choices for the presidency and congress.

Peru recently moved from a single electoral district to 25 electoral districts to expand the

representation of local interests. The ballot is a complicated, multiparty ballot with

several choices for the presidency and for the congress. The voter actually votes for a

political party associated with a presidential candidate and a political party associated

with a list of congressional candidates. In the President’s section of the ballot, the voter

chooses a President by marking a party symbol that is next to a picture of the candidate.

The ballot does not have the names of the presidential candidates. In the congress’ part

of the ballot, the voter can choose at the most two representatives in most districts by

marking a party symbol that is associated with a party list of candidates. If the voter

wants to pick particular candidates from the party list, the voter must write in two boxes

next to the party symbol the numbers linked to the names of the candidates in the list.
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At a minimum, voters need basic information on where to vote and how to vote for the

presidency and the congress, in addition to having information about the candidates. In

addition, as oversight and implementing organizations are aware, special attention is

needed to find ways to provide such information to illiterate and non-Spanish-speaking

voters in Peru.

Sixth Challenge

Finally, daily revelations of the Fujimori regime’s corruption scandals have made it

difficult for the candidates to get the voters’ attention on specific issues important to

Peru’s future. According to numerous observers, the frequent release of new videos

depicting the flagrant corruption of the previous regime has heightened public cynicism,

distrust, and alienation. However, the completely different political climate surrounding

this election is evident in all the media and in the atmosphere of free political expression.

While recognizing the challenges that Peru faces, we are nevertheless encouraged by the

decisive actions of the interim government in promoting an open political environment

and an impartial government approach during the electoral period. The electoral

authorities are regarded as honest and hard working, and they have sought to meet high

standards for the conduct of the election. Election day may not be free of imperfections,

of course, but it will be important to distinguish between the kind of intentional fraud

and intimidation that arose last year and the type of incidental mistakes that can arise in

any large election. Once the elections take place and are judged to be fully credible and

legitimate, it will be important for Peru’s new government to continue on the path

toward strengthening Peru’s democratic institutions. Free and fair elections are only the

first step on this path.

_ _ _ _ _

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared testimony.

I would be happy to respond to any questions you or other Members may have.
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CONTACT AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For future contacts regarding this testimony, please contact me at (202) 512-4128.

Individuals making key contributions to this testimony included Virginia Hughes, Juan

Tapia-Videla, La Verne Tharpes, and Venecia Kenah.
APPENDIX I APPENDIX I

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U.S. AND OTHER DONORS’ ELECTION-RELATED ASSISTANCE TO PERU,

FISCAL YEAR 2001

Donor Amount Percent of total

United States $7,000,000 51.2

European Union 1,661,550 12.2

Germany 1,200,000a 8.8

United Kingdom 1,000,000a 7.3

United Nations 1,000,000 7.3

Canada 500,000 3.6

Japan 500,000 3.6

Switzerland 500,000 3.6

Sweden 111,000 0.8

Spain 100,000 0.7

The Netherlands 65,000 0.5

Finland 25,000 0.2

Total $13,662,550

a

These funds are supporting election and other democracy-related efforts in Peru.

Source: GAO analysis of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) data.
APPENDIX II APPENDIX II

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USAID ELECTION-RELATED ASSISTANCE TO PERU,

FISCAL YEAR 2001

Type of assistance and implementing organization Amount

Technical assistance $3,298,438

 Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales 1,520,000

 International Foundation for Election Systems 1,300,000

 Centro de Asesoria y Promocion Electoral 478,438

Electoral observation $2,382,673

 National Democratic Institute/Carter Center 767,349

 Transparencia 602,534

 Organization of American States 600,000

 Ombudsman’s Office 400,000

 Assistance to be determined 12,790

Election information $1,318,889

 Promujer 429,949

 Servicios Educativos Rurales 394,315

 Instituto Dialogo y Propuestas 294,382

 Transparencia 189,300

 Assistance to be determined 10,943

Total $7,000,000

Source: GAO analysis of USAID data.
APPENDIX III APPENDIX III

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SELECTED LIST AND DESCRIPTION OF ORGANIZATIONS

INVOLVED IN THE 2001 PERUVIAN ELECTIONS

Organization Description

Centro de Asesoria y Promocion Electoral A component of the Inter-American

Institute for Human Rights based in Costa

Rica that conducts electoral observation

missions, provides technical assistance to

electoral agencies, and disseminates

electoral information to the public.

Defensoria del Pueblo (Ombudsman’s Office) An autonomous Peruvian government

agency established to protect and defend

the constitutional rights of all Peruvians

and to ensure that the state fulfills its

responsibilities in providing services to

the public.

International Foundation for Election Systems A U.S. nongovernmental organization that

provides technical assistance for

democratic development and good

governance to elections commissions,

governmental entities, private institutions,

and civil society organizations.

Instituto de Dialogo y Propuestas A Peruvian nongovernmental organization

dedicated to the promotion of citizen

development.

Jurado Nacional de Elecciones (JNE) An autonomous Peruvian government

agency responsible for overseeing the

entire electoral process, including ruling

on all matters regarding the election

process, maintaining a registry of political

organizations, inscribing political

candidates, and proclaiming the winners

of elections.

National Democratic Institute/Carter Center U.S. nongovernmental organizations that

have conducted more than 100 impartial

pre-election, election-day, and postelection observation missions around the

globe.

Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales (ONPE) An autonomous Peruvian government

agency responsible for organizing and

implementing elections, including

preparing and distributing ballots and

related voting materials, running the

elections on election day, and reporting

information on the results of the elections.
APPENDIX III APPENDIX III

Page 19 GAO-01-496T

Promujer A consortium of four Peruvian

nongovernmental organizations that

promote women’s political participation

at the national and local levels.

Registro Nacional de Identificacion y Estado Civil

(RENIEC)

An autonomous Peruvian government

agency responsible for preparing the

electoral registry; issuing national

identification cards; and registering births,

deaths, and marriages.

Servicios Educativos Rurales A Peruvian nongovernmental organization

that focuses on expanding the

opportunities of citizens in rural areas.

Transparencia A Peruvian nongovernmental organization

that focuses on strengthening the

electoral legislation and processes and

increasing citizenry participation in

elections.

Source: GAO analysis based on information from organizations in the list.

(320014)