Don't Forget to Vote

As I write this I am sitting in our Bogotá apartment/office listening to the occasional helicopter flying close overhead and thinking about the home I left up in Urabá. Today is election day in Colombia – folks are risking going to the polls in order to vote for governors, mayors and council members. Traditionally, the days leading up to and following the election are some of the most dangerous in the Colombian year. Uribe has taken measures to ensure that the weekend passes without incident. “Ley Seca” went into effect at 6 pm on Friday night and the mini-prohibition lasts until Monday morning at 6. People are advised not to travel and election observers from the Organization of American States are monitoring the polls.

Nevertheless the risk is high, for potential voters and absolutely deadly for the politicians themselves. At least 23 candidates were killed during the campaigning season for this election. Some analysis points out that the FARC have taken a more low-key strategy to disrupting elections this year. While normally the guerrilla group has looked to sabotage elections with general threats to politicians and potential voters, this year the threats have been more selective, and they have instead focused on the assassinations of “enemy” candidates. This has meant that this election cycle has seen more mobility for candidates and security for polling places that are in areas traditionally controlled by the FARC. However, this perceived improvement comes in a year with a very high count of political assassinations, which, according to the government, have mostly been committed by the FARC. Nevertheless, people are out to the polls on this rainy and cold Sunday and the low-flying helicopter is most likely there to keep an eye on the order. In the more remote areas of the country, where the FARC maintains a strong presence (like Apartadó and the entire Urabá region) it remains to be seen if violence will affect today’s most basic of democratic processes.

I can’t help but contrast the will of the electorate here to the apathy of the electorate back home. I can’t imagine what would happen to pathetic voter turnout in the states if “risk of death” was added to “must bring official ID”. Colombia prides itself on being the “Longest Standing Democracy in South America”. While this is technically true, the history is a rocky one including years of “shared power” between the two traditional ruling parties and (as has been revealed in this last year) strong government ties to paramilitary forces – not so democratic when you think about it. These days there are still questions floating around about the future of second-term President Uribe. Months ago mention of the possibility of a third term started flying about. This would require yet another constitutional revision, ala the Supreme Court decision to allow a sitting President to seek a second term, per Uribe’s request back in 2004. The Supreme court sided with Uribe then, but would they allow for the possibility of a third presidential term? And if Uribe decides to go down this path, how will this hold up in South America’s longest standing democracy when 12 years in office looks a little less democratic and a little more dictatorial?