At the end of the validation session for the 2021 parliament electoral votes, the political candidate for the AVP party as well as constitutional professor Ryçond Santos dos Nascimento shared his thoughts with the press. The constitutional law professor at the University of Aruba said that, when referring to a state of democratic rights, the authorities should not automatically assume they have our trust, but they should earn it instead. Equally as important, according to the expert, it is up to the citizens and the press to make use of their freedom of expression to be critical.
“Oftentimes the people of Aruban people are quick to blindly believe all that a Judge, Prime Minister, or Electoral Advice say” says Santos dos Nascimento. Citing public articles in the Amigoe newspaper based on the interview with the President of electoral advice, Glenn Thode, the politician indicated that article number 85 of our electoral ordinance was being violated when the main polling station denied inspecting what was happening at all the other polling stations.
Ryçond Santos dos Nascimento feels that the large number of invalid votes is also an area in which the government and the Electoral Advice have failed to take responsibility. He says that they failed to educate the public and that they should have explained how to vote properly in order to avoid their votes from being considered no longer valid.
