ELECTION OF MERCOSUR PARLAMENTS Law 27.120 National Electoral Code. Modification. Sanctioned: December 29, 2014 Promulgated: January 06, 2015 The Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation assembled in Congress, etc. sanction with force
Law:
ELECTION OF MERCOSUR PARLAMENTS
Chapter I
Amendments to the National Electoral Code
ARTICLE 1 — Amend article 53 of the National Electoral Code, which reads as follows:
Article 53:
Call and election date. The call for the election of national positions and parliamentarians of Mercosur will be made by the national executive branch.
The election of national positions will take place on the fourth Sunday of October immediately prior to the completion of the mandates, without prejudice to the provisions of article 148.
The election of Mercosur parliamentarians will take place on the Citizen Mercosur Day.
ARTICLE 2 Amend article 60 of the National Electoral Code, which reads as follows:
Article 60:
Registration of candidates and request for the formalization of lists. Since the proclamation of candidates in the primary elections and up to fifty (50) days prior to the election, the parties shall register before the electoral judge the lists of the candidates proclaimed, who shall meet the conditions proper to the position for which they are no longer included in any of the legal inability.
In the case of the election of the president and vice president of the Nation, and of Mercosur parliamentarians by national district, the presentation of the formulas and the lists of candidates will be made before the federal judge with electoral competence of the Federal Capital.
In the case of the election of Mercosur parliamentarians by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, national senators and national deputies, the presentation of the lists of candidates will be made before the federal judge with electoral competence of the respective district.
ARTICLE 3 — Incorporate as article 60 bis of the National Electoral Code the following:
Article 60 bis:
Requirements for the Officialization of Lists. The lists to be submitted must have women at least thirty percent (30%) of candidates for the positions to be elected and in proportions with the possibility of being elected, in accordance with the provisions of Law 24.012 and its regulatory decrees. In the case of national senatorial categories to meet such a minimum quota, the lists should be made up of two persons of different sex, for both incumbent and alternate candidates.
The political groupings that have reached the primary elections one and a half per cent (1.5 per cent) of the votes validly cast in the district in question must present a single list by category, not admitting the coexistence of lists even if they are identical between the alliances and the parties that integrate them.
The political groupings will present, together with the request for the formalization of lists, complete membership data of their candidates, the last electoral domicile and an affidavit signed individually by each of the candidates, where it appears not to be included in any of the inabilitys provided for in the National Constitution, in this Code, in the Organic Law of the Political Parties, in the Law on the Financing of the Political Parties.
Candidates may be listed with the name or nickname with which they are known, provided that the variation of the list is not excessive or leads to confusion at the discretion of the judge.
No list shall be formalized that does not meet these requirements, or that includes candidates who have not been elected in the primary elections by the same grouping and by the same category in which they are presented, except in the case of resignation, death or incapacity of the presidential candidate of the group according to article 61.
ARTICLE 4 Incorporate as article 120 bis of the National Electoral Code the following:
Article 120 bis:
Completion of Mercosur parliamentarians. Without prejudice to the communication provided for in article 124, the national electoral boards shall report within thirty-five days, from the beginning of the final scrutiny, the results of the election in the parliamentary category of Mercosur to the National Electoral Chamber, and, where appropriate, to the outstanding issues relating to that category.
Where there are no outstanding issues concerning the election of Mercosur parliamentarians, or those that may not be jointly susceptible to alter the distribution of seats, the National Electoral Chamber shall proceed to the distribution of the posts in accordance with the procedures provided for in this Code. The list of the elect will be communicated to the Legislative Assembly for its proclamation.
ARTICLE 5 — Amend article 122 of the National Electoral Code as follows:
Article 122:
Proclamation of the elect. The Legislative Assembly, in the case of president and vice president, and of Mercosur parliamentarians, and the national electoral boards of the districts, in the case of national senators and deputies, will proclaim those who are elected, giving them the documents that prove their character.
ARTICLE 6 Amend article 124 of the National Electoral Code, which reads as follows:
Article 124:
Scrutiny act. Testimonies. All these procedures shall be in a record that the Board shall extend by its secretary and be signed by all its members.
The District National Electoral Board will send testimony of the record to the National Electoral Chamber, the Executive Branch and the parties involved. The Ministry of the Interior and Transport shall hold for five (5) years the testimonies of the records to be submitted by the Boards.
In the case of the election of Mercosur parliamentarians, the National Electoral Chamber will extend by its secretary a record where it is stated:
(a) Summary of results reported by national electoral boards of lists elected by national district;
(b) Who have been elected members of Mercosur and alternate members, by national district and regional provincial districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, for the application of the system provided for in this Code.
The respective National Electoral Board or, where appropriate, the National Electoral Chamber will also grant a duplicate of the minutes corresponding to each of the elect, together with a diploma.
ARTICLE 7 Incorporate Title VII of the National Electoral Code—law 19,945 and its amendments—as Chapter IV, with the name “From the Election of Mercosur Members”, which follows:
Chapter IV
Of Mercosur parliamentarians
Article 164 bis:
System of choice. Mercosur parliamentarians will be chosen by a mixed system:
(a) Twenty-four (24) parliamentarians will be elected directly by regional district: one parliamentarian for each of the 23 provinces and one parliamentarian for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires;
(b) The remaining parliamentarians will be elected directly by the people of the Nation, by national district, to which end the national territory is a single district.
Article 164 ter: Postulation by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Candidates may apply to Mercosur parliamentarians by provincial regional district and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the corresponding district political groups.
Each elector will vote for a single official list of a single candidate with two alternates.
It will be elected from Mercosur by provincial regional district or in the case of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the candidate of the political group, who will obtain the majority of votes cast in the respective district.
Article 164 quater:
Postulation by national district. Lists of candidates for Mercosur parliamentarians may be run by national district, national political groupings.
Each elector shall vote on a single official list of candidates whose number shall be equal to the number of candidates to be filled and the same number of alternate candidates.
The charges to be filled shall be assigned in accordance with the order established by each list and in accordance with the following procedure:
a. The total votes obtained by each list that has reached at least three percent (3 %) of the national electoral roll will be divided by one (1), by two (2), by three (3) and so on until reaching the number equal to that of the charges to be filled;
b. The resulting quotients, regardless of the list they come from, shall be ordained from greater to less in a number equal to that of the charges to be filled;
c. If there are two or more equal quotients, they shall be ordered in direct relation to the total of the votes obtained by the respective lists, and if they have obtained the same number of votes, the order will result from a draw that the National Electoral Chamber must do to that end;
d. Each list shall have as many charges as their quotients may appear in the order set out in subparagraph (b).
Article 164 quinquies:
Presentation of models of ballots. Two sections of ballots will be presented for the Mercosur parliamentary category: one for the election of Mercosur parliamentarians by national district, to the National Electoral Board of the Federal Capital; and another for the election of Mercosur parliamentarians by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, to the national electoral boards of the respective districts.
Article 164 sexies:
Scrutiny. The scrutiny shall be performed by an official list of each group, without taking into account the tachas or substitutions that the voter has made.
Article 164 septies:
Proclamation. Members of Mercosur shall be proclaimed to be elected according to the mixed system described above. They will be alternates on each list, the unelected headlines and the alternates that integrated it, according to the order in which they were included.
Article 164 octies:
Restitution. In the event of the death, resignation, separation, inability or permanent incapacity of a Mercosur member, it shall be replaced by the first alternate of its list under article 164 septies.
Chapter II
Amendments to Law 26,215 on the Financing of Political Parties
ARTICLE 8 — Amend Article 34 of Law 26,215, which reads as follows:
Article 34:
Campaign sports. The national administration ' s general budget law for the year in which national elections should be held should determine the amount to be distributed as an extraordinary contribution to electoral campaigns.
For the years in which presidential elections are to be held, the general budget law of the national administration should provide for four (4) differentiated items: one (1) for the election of president, and the financing of the second electoral round according to the provisions of this law, the second for the election of Mercosur parliamentarians, the third for the election of national senators, and the fourth for the election of national deputies.
For the years in which only legislative elections are held, the general budget law of the national administration should provide for the last two (2) items.
In the same way, in the above years, similar headings should be provided for the category of charges to be chosen for the extraordinary contribution of electoral campaigns for the primary elections, equivalent to 50 per cent (50 per cent) of which the election campaigns of the general elections are expected.
ARTICLE 9 — Amend Article 35 of Law 26,215, which reads as follows:
Article 35:
Sport ticket printing. The National Electoral Directorate of the Ministry of the Interior and Transport will grant the political groups that will formalize the economic resources that will allow them to print the equivalent of a ballot and a half (1.5) per registered elector in each district for each category to be chosen.
The National Electoral Justice will inform the National Electoral Directorate of the number of official lists for the corresponding election that will make the relevant distribution, by electoral district and category.
ARTICLE 10. - Amend article 36 of Law 26,215, which reads as follows:
Article 36:
Distribution of contributions. The funds for the contribution to the electoral campaign, both for the primary and general elections, will be distributed among the political groups that have formalized lists of candidates as follows:
1. Presidential elections:
(a) Fifty per cent (50 per cent) of the amount allocated by the budget equally among the lists submitted;
(b) Fifty per cent (50 per cent) of the amount allocated by the budget will be distributed among the twenty-four (24) districts, in proportion to the total number of electors for each. This operation will be distributed to each political group in proportion to the number of votes the party had obtained in the previous general election for the same category. In the case of confederations or alliances, the sum of the votes obtained by the party members in the previous general election for the same category will be computed.
The political groups that participate in the second round will receive as contributions for the campaign an amount equivalent to thirty percent (30 percent) of the largest campaign contribution for the first round.
2. Elections of deputies:
The total contributions will be distributed among the twenty-four (24) districts in proportion to the total number of electors for each. In effect, 50 per cent (50 per cent) of the resulting amount for each district will be distributed equally between the lists presented and the remaining fifty per cent (50 per cent) will be distributed to each political party, confederation or alliance in proportion to the number of votes the party had obtained in the previous general election for the same category. In the case of confederations or alliances, the sum of the votes obtained by the party members in the previous general election for the same category will be computed.
3. Elections of senators:
The total contributions will be distributed among the eight (8) districts in proportion to the total number of voters for each. Effective such an operation, fifty percent (50 percent) of the resulting amount for each district, will be distributed equally between the lists presented and the remaining fifty percent (50 percent) will be distributed to each political party, confederation or alliance in proportion to the number of votes the party had obtained in the previous general election for the same category. In the case of confederations or alliances, the sum of the votes obtained by the party members in the previous general election for the same category will be computed.
4. Elections of Mercosur parliamentarians:
(a) For the election of parliamentarians by national district: in accordance with the provisions for the election of president and vice president;
(b) For the election of parliamentarians by regional provincial districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires: according to what is established for the election of national deputies.
In the case of district groups without direct national reference, they will be given the full amount of contributions.
The same distribution criteria shall be applied for the primary elections between the political groups that are presented.
The Ministry of the Interior and Transport will publish the payroll and amount of contributions for all purposes.
The Ministry of the Interior and Transport will deposit the contributions at the start of the campaign once the lists have been formalized.
Chapter III
Amendments to Act No. 26,571, of free, simultaneous and compulsory primary elections
ARTICLE 11. - Amend article 21 of Law 26.571, which reads as follows:
Article 21: The designation of the pre-candidates is exclusive to the political groups, having to respect the respective organic letters, the requirements set out in the National Constitution, the Organic Law of the Political Parties, the National Electoral Code, the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament, and the present law.
Parties can regulate the participation of extra-partisan in their organic letters.
Each political grouping will determine the requirements to be precandidated by them.
The pre-candidates to senators, national deputies and parliamentarians of Mercosur by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires must be supported by a number of participants not less than two per thousand (2 per thousand) of the total number of those registered in the general pattern of each electoral district, up to the maximum of one million (1,000,000), or by a minimum number of members of the political group or parties.
The pre-candidates to president and vice president of the Nation and parliamentarians of Mercosur by national district, shall be supported by a number of participants not less than one per thousand (1 per thousand) of the total number of those registered in the general register, domiciled in at least five (5) districts, or one per cent (1 per cent) of the list of members of the political group or of the sum of the minor parties,
No affiliate can endorse more than one (1) list.
ARTICLE 12. - Amend article 27 of Law 26.571, which reads as follows:
Article 27: The application for officialization is submitted, the electoral board of each group shall verify compliance with the conditions laid down in the National Constitution, the Political Parties Act, the National Electoral Code, the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament, the party organic charter and, in the case of alliances, its electoral regulations. To this end, you may request the necessary information to the federal court with the district's electoral competence, which must evacuate it within 24 hours of its submission.
Within forty-eight (48) hours of submission of requests for officialization, the party electoral board shall issue a well-founded decision on admission or rejection, and shall notify the lists submitted within 24 hours.
Any of the lists may request the revocation of the resolution, which must be submitted in writing and founded before the electoral board within 24 hours of notification. The electoral board must be issued within 24 hours of its presentation.
The request for revocation may be accompanied by a subsidiary appeal on the basis of the same grounds. In the face of the rejection of the revocation raised by the electoral board, the file will be lifted without further to the federal court with the corresponding district's electoral competence within 24 hours of the dictation of the confirmation resolution.
All notifications of the party electoral boards can be made indistinctly: in personal form before it, by notarial record, by telegram with certified copy and notice of delivery, by letter with notice of delivery, or by publication on the official website of each political group.
ARTICLE 13. - Amend article 44 of Law 26.571, which reads as follows:
Article 44: The election of candidates for president and vice president of the Nation of each grouping shall be made by means of formula in a direct and simple plurality of suffrages.
The candidatures for senators and parliamentarians of Mercosur by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires will be chosen by full list to simple plurality of votes. In the election of candidates to national deputies, and to Mercosur parliamentarians by national district, each political group to integrate the final list shall apply the system of distribution of posts that establish each party organic charter or the rules of the party alliance.
The federal courts with electoral competence of each district shall conduct the final scrutiny of the primary elections of the political groups of their district, and shall report the results:
(a) In the case of the President and Vice-President of the Nation, and of Mercosur parliamentarians by national district to the National Electoral Chamber, which will proceed to summarize the votes obtained throughout the national territory by the candidates of each of the political groups, notifying them to the electoral boards of the national political groups;
(b) In the case of the categories senators, national deputies, and Mercosur parliamentarians by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires to the electoral boards of the respective political groups, to conform to the winning list.
The electoral boards of the political groups notified in accordance with the provisions set forth above shall make the proclamation of the elected candidates, and shall notify it in the case of the categories president and vice president of the Nation and parliamentarians of Mercosur by national district to the Federal Court with electoral competence of the Federal Capital, and in the case of the categories senators, national deputies, and parliamentarians of Mercosur by respective provincial regional courts and the Autonomous City
The courts with electoral competence shall take account of the candidates thus proclaimed, on behalf of the political grouping and by the category in which they were elected. The political groupings may not intervene in the general elections under another modality that postulates those elected and the respective categories, in the primary election, except in case of resignation, death or disability.
ARTICLE 14. - Amend article 45 of Law 26.571, which reads as follows:
Article 45: Only political groups that, for the election of senators, deputies of the Nation and parliamentarians of Mercosur by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, have obtained at least a total of votes, considering those of all their internal lists, equal to or greater than one and a half per cent (1.5%) of the votes validly cast in the district concerned for the respective category.
For the category of president and vice president and parliamentarians of Mercosur by national district, one and a half per cent (1.5 per cent) of the votes validly cast throughout the national territory.
Chapter IV
General provisions
ARTICLE 15. - The National Electoral Justice is responsible for the knowledge and resolution of all matters arising from the election and mandate of Mercosur parliamentarians under the provisions of this Act.
ARTICLE 16. - In all that was not provided for by the Constitutive Protocol of the Mercosur Parliament or not specifically regulated by the competent bodies, the Mercosur parliamentarians representing the Argentine citizenship, will be assimilated in domestic law to the national deputies. They shall apply, provided that there is no specific provision, the provisions governing the status of such persons in respect of parliamentary immunities, remunerative, labour, forecast and protocolary regimes.
Chapter V
Transitional arrangements
ARTICLE 17. - While the Mercosur Citizen's Day is not established by the competent agencies, the elections of Mercosur parliamentarians will be held simultaneously with the immediate national elections prior to the completion of the mandates.
Once that day has been established, the elections for Mercosur parliamentarians will be convened by that date.
ARTICLE 18. - The first direct election of Mercosur parliamentarians representing Argentine citizenship will be held simultaneously with the next presidential election, for which purpose it will be convened for the same date.
The number of parliamentarians to be elected is governed by the existing provisions adopted by the competent bodies of Mercosur.
ARTICLE 19. - For the first election of Mercosur parliamentarians, each candidature or list will be assigned the appropriate campaign contribution by applying the procedure for determining contributions for the categories of president and vice president of the Nation, in the case of Mercosur parliamentarians by national district, and national deputies, for the case of Mercosur parliamentarians by provincial regional districts and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires.
ARTICLE 20. - Contact the national executive branch.
IN THE SESSION OF THE ARGENTINE CONGRESS, IN GOOD AIRES, TO THE VETH DAYS OF THE MONTH OF THE YEAR TWO MIL CATORCE.
— REGISTRATE BAJO N° 27.120 —
JULIAN A. DOMINGUEZ. - JUAN C. MARINO. - Lucas Chedrese. — Juan H. Estrada.