A fire broke out at the headquarters of Paraguay’s national electoral agency on Thursday, killing one person and raising questions about prospects for presidential primaries and general elections scheduled for coming months.
A huge cloud of black smoke and big flames rose from the Paraguayan Superior Court of Electoral Justice in Asuncion. The facility, where hundreds of officials work, is used to store election material, including voting machines.
“We have suffered serious damage. We cannot confirm absolutely anything about its causes,” Jorge Bogarin, who heads the agency, told a radio station.
Photo: AFP
Fire captain Hermes Villa confirmed the discovery of the body of an official who had gone missing after the fire erupted.
Bogarin said the fire could “eventually alter the schedule that was already drawn up” for coming elections.
He said a team would be set up to investigate the cause of the fire and to find ways to ensure the elections are held.
Primaries for presidential candidates are scheduled for Dec. 18, and general elections for the president, vice president, governors and lawmakers are scheduled for April 30 next year.
The fire might have damaged 8,500 voting machines, a senior official at the agency said.
The agency would look into holding December’s primaries in two stages, he added.
However, one opposition party leader raised an objection to that suggestion.
“Breaking the elections up is a plan to carry out fraud,” said Efrain Alegre, president of the opposition Liberal Party.
“The law establishes that the primaries are held at the same time as a way to prevent voters from fraudulently voting in two primaries,” Alegre said.
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