Recall

The Plaza was full of people waiting to vote

Most waited in town for the results - carnival atmosphere

My little town is buzzing with people. Street vendors are doing a brisk business. There are fireworks ( the just-go-boom kind) and huge crowds in the Plaza. Everyone has come in from the surrounding annexes to vote in a special recall election of the mayor and all regidores (town council), even my dear friend and community partner Angel. Turn-out is expected to be high, since voting is not just a right in Peru – it’s the law here. And most intend to hang out in town to await results.

The irony is that the current municipal government, after throwing the corrupt old gang out of office, has done more projects and good for this town than has been done in YEARS. But, under Peruvian law, a mere 6.5% of the voters can force a recall election. In San Luis, that took only 800 signatures – many of which were later found to be fraudulent. The old gang has been disrupting town meetings with ridiculous charges of corruption, since I got here. There have been posters and flyers all over town for the last couple of weeks. All alcohol sales are stopped, though I suspect some stocked up before-hand.

The intent of this recall procedure, which started in 1994, was to “stop corruption”. The reality is that it has allowed a very small minority to disrupt local government function. Pretty much everything, including my projects with the Muni, have been put on hold for the last few weeks, as they deal with “re-election”. Just imagine what the Tea Party or other vocal minority would do with a recall law like this in the US – they could effectively paralyze any local government.

The crowd gets the word that the current administration has WON !!

The good news : The polls closed at 5pm and by 5:40, the votes had been counted twice and the results certified by a federal team from Lima. All existing Regidores and the mayor (aka The Good Guys) won by 86% to 14%. Can you spell  l a n d s l i d e  ?? This was actually a bigger margin than their original election, so clearly the people of this town appreciate all that these hard-working, caring people have done to make it a better place. They deserved every vote for all they've done for the people of this town. Voter turnout was just over 75% - maybe the US should take some notes here and make voting mandatory ? 

The Mayor and my community partner Angel lead the Victory Parade

The Victory parade marched up and down the (newly paved, thanks to them) streets of town. I was touched by the people flooding out of their houses and running out to hug the mayor and town council. More just-go-boom fireworks and music fill the air and cases of beer are flowing from the tiendas. While the recall process did cause a lot of worry and disruption ( not to mention expense), it did have a good result – the mayor and Regidores all got a HUGE shot in the arm from the outpouring of support and vote. While Peace Corps rules prohibited me from participating in Peru politics in any way, I was pulling for them all the way.