The very essence of a free government is free and fair elections, but between 1968 and 1989 Panama lived under a dictatorship and democracy was at best a rumor. But even from its independence in 1903 and up to 1968, free and fair elections where extremely rare and they would be the result of the will of the President and not of the electoral entity in charge of guaranteeing those elections.

Throughout its republican history, then, Panamanian elections were manipulated by whoever was in power. According to Magistrate Eduardo Valdes, the Electoral Tribunal of Panama, those in power would only count their votes and would ignore most votes for the opposition. This situation came to a head in the elections of 1989, when, according to Valdes, the dictatorship declared its own victory despite several indicators that the candidate of an alliance of rival parties had overwhelmingly garnered more votes. 

The dictatorship was removed from power on December 20, 1989, when the U.S. invaded Panama to strip Manuel Noriegas government of power and bring him to justice in the USA for drug trafficking related crimes. The democratically elected president of the May 1989 elections was then recognized and established as president of the Republic of Panama.

To guarantee fair and free elections, an Electoral Tribunal was reorganized with new Magistrates in 1990, and this agency is now one of the pillars of Panamanian democracy. The Electoral Tribunal has three departments: The Electoral Department, which is in charge of the organization and execution of electoral processes in Panama. Its responsibilities include democratic elections, referendums, plebiscites, the voters list, electoral records, and recognition of political parties.  The Civil Registry is responsible for civil records such as registration of births, deaths, marriages, etc. Finally, the Citizenship Identifications Department provides governmental citizenship documents by issuing the National Identity Card, a mandatory document that every Panamanian has to acquire upon reaching 18. Now, under the Electoral Tribunal, Panama fairly and freely elects a president, one vice president and a legislature on the national level, as well as Mayors and city councils every five years. Panama has a multi-party system, in which traditionally no one party has had a real chance of gaining power alone and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. Since 1990 the majority of the people have sided with principal alliance of the opposition, reinforcing the credibility of the Electoral Tribunal. 

The Electoral Tribunal has implemented multiple IT systems to accomplish its different constitutional missions. All of them are set up to enforce democracy and all these systems are vital to achieving fair and free elections. At the core is a database of each citizens civil information (birth, marriage, death, etc.), in order to provide documentation at age 18 to ensure fair play at the polls. The institution has a national digital network with the latest technology in order to provide decentralized service for civil registry and ID daily service. The system is so efficient that it allows the agency to unofficially recognize the new President Elect within four hours. The official declarations have been made in 72 hours after the polls have been closed for the last three General Elections and two Referendums organized to decide on constitutional issues and most recently for the expansion of the Panama Canal.

Panamanian polls continue to show that the Tribunal Electoral is the most trusted agency of the public sector. 

Panamas data gathering system that is used for elections and other civil information is based on its registry of vital facts (births, deaths, marriages, etc.). Those facts are captured by local decentralized computer terminals connected to central servers. These terminals are located at the various offices that the Electoral Tribunal has throughout the country, which includes the largest public and private hospitals, all connected online. The largest chains of supermarkets also are connected on line to issue birth and death certificates.  Slowly but surely our remote areas are been provided with different wireless communication technologies to extend the on line service.  Enforcement is so strict in the capitals of the different provinces that in the registry of deaths, for example, it is mandatory that the death be registered before friends and family hold the burial ceremony. To motivate the parents to register their children, the policy of the Ministry of Education is that they must be enrolled with their birth certificate issued by the Civil Registry in order to enter the school system.

The identification documents are unique for each citizen once their birth is recorded. These digital documents with biometrics controls (fingerprint and facial) have a high level of security and inviolability, minimizing the possibility of alteration and that of a citizen voting multiple times during a single election. Sybase Replication Server and Adaptive Server Enterprise are at the heart of the system. Replication Server synchronizes replicate copies of data on heterogeneous platforms throughout a client/server network. The system enables data movement from operational to decision support systems to meet Panamas performance needs during the data gathering process and on Election Day. This helps the Electoral Tribunal merge data from disparate sources and ensures accuracy.

The macro processes are at the core of the system and the accurate results achieved by Electoral Tribunal would be impossible without technology. Some of the most important functions supported by technology include:

 >>Internet module so that political parties can submit 24x7 from their headquarters their long list of candidates, the module automatically validating the different legal and constitutional requirements upon submission and prior to their formalization.
>>Recruitment of the Impartial Recruiting Staff hired to work during the elections at the more than 5,500 voting stations, each requiring four officers. They are all recruited and trained from the general public and required to have an impartial profile subject to the scrutiny of the political parties.
>>Another Internet module so that the political parties can submit their representatives at each voting station.
>>Establish the list of voters based on their address, and subject to the scrutiny of all political parties and candidates prior to the elections, allowing them to vote only once, and only for specific electoral positions and candidates based on where they live.
>>Develop, monitor, count votes and quickly publish the results. For the May 2009 elections the Electoral Tribunal is getting ready for a new innovation by transmitting the unofficial results by WAP-cellular technology directly into the agency servers. 


The Results of the Electoral Process:

Thanks to the technology now available in Panama, all of its citizens can observe national voting results in real-time, and it allows the agency to legally, accurately and officially announce the winners with confidence. With this program, Panama has become a model country in Latin America in the facilitation of elections and the maintenance of databases.

Yes

Yes

The Electoral Tribunal project for democratic elections and its components have been beneficial for Panama and for the entire world. This project has promoted and sustained democracy while creating a peaceful social environment allowing businesses and individuals all over the world to trust in the Panamanian electoral process and its democratic society.  This process is celebrated every five years in a free and transparent manner while remaining respectful to each citizens civil rights.

This peaceful environment and electoral transparency has allowed Panama to develop in multiple ways. The countrys political transitions are smoother, and election results are no longer met with skepticism. The election system and the database that supports it also allow Panama to achieve sustainable economic growth as reflected in the GDP statistics below.

The Panamanian GDP grew 11.2 percent 2007, 7.7 percent in 2008, and is estimated to rise 7.2 percent in 2009, which is expected to be the best in Latin America. According to an anonymous posting from December of 2008 on www.persianamania.com/blog/2008/12/panamanian-economy by a Panamanian citizen, some residents are pleasantly surprised and optimistic.  the Panamanian economy does surprise me in its robustness. Im simply not seeing any of the consumer frugality and panic that Im reading about elsewhere. I think the canal, the Colón Free Zone and our economys reliance on exporting raw materials will keep us in good hands. This is a good sign for those of us in business in this great country.

Panamanian officials have expressed respect and gratitude for the Electoral Tribunals work and its impact on their country. One, Jose Thompson, director of the Center of Advisory and Electoral Promotion, a division of the Interamerican Institute of Human Rights with headquarters in San José, Costa Rica, wrote, I would like to honor your achievement of the Observation for the General Elections of Panama on May 2nd 2004. We are thankful for your role in establishing confidence in your institution and for the opportunity to participate in a sound election. This organization has instilled trust in the electoral process- as demonstrated by the remarkable participation of the Panamanian population.  

Private Citizens were also happy with the new election process. One representative letter came from Fernando Motta to Eduardo Valdés who has presided over the Electoral Tribunal during all of the electoral processes since 1992 and up to 2004, who said, I would like to recognize the outstanding work by the electoral court during this election. Our Tribunal Electoral makes us truly feel proud to be Panamanian. I believe the work that you (The Court) have accomplished is a standard to which other institutions should be held. It receives my sincere admiration and respect.   

The Panamanian Episcopal Conference writes: We are addressing you in your capacity as the highest authorities of the electoral district and as representatives of the thousands of public servants who make up the Electoral Tribunal, the citizens who selflessly offered their service to the Electoral Bodies, the corps of Electoral Delegates, the Ballot-Counting Boards and the many other thousands of Panamanian men and women who, under your direction, and in more than a few cases, as anonymous heroes, succeeded in guaranteeing the national community an exemplary voting process, which was distinguished by the high rate of voter participation, freedom in the exercise of the vote, and the integrity of the ballot counting. From any perspective, the general election was a milestone of progress in Panamas democratic life. In particular, announcing the results of the popular will to the people immediately and directly was an exemplary accomplishment that put an end, hopefully forever, to the well-known saying that he who counts the ballots wins.'"

The most original element of this program might be that Panamanian elections are now considered to be beyond reproach. Panamas election processes are considered a model of fairness in Latin America and to that effect continue to receive visits from their colleagues and legislators from neighboring countries that go to Panama to closely examine their system and experiences.

The Electoral Master Plan begun with the strategic work of the Tribunal for conducting the general elections every five years. The multiple activities performed by this agency highlight its work as a body that can unite Panamanians because it is able to develop confidence in the countrys election process. National office holders are selected through a democratic electoral celebration distinguished by being free, just and fair.

Since 1990, the Republic of Panama has celebrated transparent elections and referendum. This has been a key element towards sustaining the democratic transition that has allowed Panama to bring forth its national personality and maximize its prestige around the world.

Because Panama is located in Latin America, it is considered one of the developing countries and in this classification, it is one of the few countries with the capacity to show free and fair voting results in real-time, holding the undisputed record for declaring unofficial and official Presidential results in the continent. This allows its citizens to follow the results through the media and eliminate suspicions regarding the transparency or legitimacy of the process.

Electoral Candidates Registry to electoral positions can be accessed from the political parties headquarters, using the Internet, through a secure 24/7 connection to the Tribunal Electoral Main System. This is yet another area of oversight that inspires confidence among Panamanians by eliminating the traditional burden of paper work that had to be processed in three days for ten of thousands of candidates.

The Electoral Tribunal had several obstacles to overcome. Those included: Lack of trust for government programs,discomfort with change, initial discomfort with technology,and reluctance to give up paper records. The Electoral Tribunal overcame these problems through a media campaign, a program to help Panamanians become more comfortable and adapt with technology, evidence over time that the elections were honest (helped greatly by the fact that incumbent governments consistently lost several elections, some of them by small margins), and inviting objectors to join the solution by offering an opportunity to relate to the planned changes by making technological applications relevant to their day-to-day lives. A key element was delivering on the promise of transparency in campaign financing and results. Eventually, even the most hardened skeptics saw that the system was honest, efficient and, as a result, has brought international prestige to Panama.

The need for efficient, free elections was so obvious at the outset that the objections related more to the details as shown above than to any initial yes-or-no decision or funding grant.

Exceeded

The electoral systems in Panama are considered to be free, fair and just. Elected officials are now broadly considered to be legitimate, and Panamanians have confidence in the process.

Because of the success of the Panama Tribunal Electoral, international observers have recommended using this agency staff as advisers to other Latin American organizations trying to achieve free, just and fair democratic elections.

These advisers have provided help to other countries, including: El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, and Ecuador.

Because the technology was developed and demonstrated quickly, and the first election results, as performed by Tribunal, were perceived to be accurate and fair, there was an almost immediate acceptance from the political parties and rank-and-file Panamanians. By 1990, Panamanians were tired of living in a dictatorship and prior traditional fraud politics, and were enthusiastic about the prospect of free and fair elections. Perhaps the most powerful endorsement of all: The Tribunal Electorals performance has earned the confidence of its countrys citizens.