Moments when Chile Members of a founding conference and local offices are elected on Saturday and Sunday. A call to submit an informal vote to request the president’s removal has spread on the networks, although the initiative has no practical implications, according to the law and experts consulted by AFP.

“Would you like to remove President Sebastian Pinera Ichnik? Yes or no. You print this ballot card, take it to vote, mark your answer, and give it your signature,” explained in a video dated May 6 with more than 300,000 copies.

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The “fifth ballot” campaign is promoted by one of the lists that has candidates for the Constitutional Conference that will draft the new Basic Charter.

On Saturday and Sunday, Chileans must cast four votes: one for the constituent assembly member who will draft a new constitution; Another for the mayor, a councilor, and for the first time a district governor.

The promoters say for “fifth ballot” that if those votes were counted informally, they would appear in the press, which would promote “an official recall referendum, where we can really remove Pinera or reach a trial by Congress.” This, in imitation of Colombia’s “seventh ballot” phenomenon in 1990.

In the Chilean campaign, it was detailed that thus voting should not be canceled and members of the board of directors would not be punished for being screened.

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Agence France-Presse discovered confusing messages on social media, doubts and misinformation in this regard: “I think it will leave me null and void, and no one confirms anything in this country.” “Print this ballot and be part of the first mass referendum to abolish citizens.”

Can the president be removed from office? –

There are no references in the current Chilean constitution to referendums or referendums that allow citizens to call for the removal of the head of state. There are articles that allow you to request the impeachment of the president. For example, due to mental or physical illness, but it is the exclusive responsibility of the Senate, which can also accept or reject a resignation offered by the president.

“There is no regulation under which the president of the republic can be removed,” an expert in constitutional affairs, Domingo Lovera, told AFP.

Maria Yarquemada, IDEA International Program Representative, confirmed the above and added that the president could be impeached through a constitutional indictment, as mentioned in the viral video, but it is an exclusive assignment of Congress.

Can the vote be canceled? –

He explained in the video that “if you put a separate paper in the vote, they cannot cancel the vote according to the law.”

The legislation does not indicate a possible revocation of the vote in this case. Law No. 18700 on Voting and Checking provides for the cancellation of these votes if “more than one preference appears, whether or not they contain additional myths, other signs, or graphic marks.”

For Lovera, “The vote is not canceled if the voting preference is flagged unequivocally.”

“What is the problem?” He adds that it is possible that there will be someone objecting at the time of voting, and if you do not have a battalion of agents defending those votes, it can be objected. “

In Law No. 18700, there are no explicit references to penalties for conducting informal vetting or introducing alternative ballot papers. But Andres Tagli, the head of the constituency (Cerville), said in a press conference on May 14 that under Article 155 “general, unspecified errors are identified in the law, such as holding other parallel elections and parallel checks.” Punish board members who want to count those votes.

Sebastian Zarate, the constitutional lawyer, considered the initiative “an act to disrupt the elections,” adding that under Article 149 of Law No. 18700, “anyone who has voting cards can be fined in circumstances other than those stipulated by law.”

The President of the Court also mentioned this article as a possible punishment.

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