Municipal Elections: Opposition Filed Against Proposed Polling-Place Change in Ybytymí

A dispute over Ybytymí’s polling place has reached Paraguay’s Electoral Court, with the local Liberal Party opposing a unilateral request to move voting away from the historic Ing. Jan L. Hoeckle School.

Gerardo Portillo, the departmental representative of the PLRA, filed the challenge before Hugo Oxilia Vera, electoral judge for the Ninth Judicial Circumscription of Paraguarí. He acted on behalf of titular and alternate members of Ybytymí’s Civic Board who oppose changing the venue.

Portillo also asked the judge to confirm that ballot counting will take place at Basic School No. 792, located in the Héctor L. Vera district. The school is the current electoral site and has become the center of the dispute.

The request to reconsider the location was filed on Sept. 1 by Cristian Darío Santander Curtido, president of the Civic Board. He proposed Basic School No. 687 Ramón Domínguez in Potrero Garay or, alternatively, Basic School No. 349 Cap. Pedro Carpinelli in Solano Escobar. Santander Curtido argued that the two schools offered better conditions for conducting election day normally, particularly because rain can make access to the current site difficult and affect voter travel and the movement and protection of electoral materials.

The objection says the Ing. Jan L. Hoeckle School has suitable infrastructure and is accessible to people with disabilities, those with reduced mobility, and older adults. It also questions the way the proposed change was made, arguing that the full Civic Board was not convened before the request was submitted.