USAID"s support for the 1996 Nicaraguan elections through a cooperative agreement with the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights/Center for Election Assistance and Promotion (IIDH/CAPEL)

Evaluation covers the period 12/95-8/97. As a result of the unexpected change in CSE leadership early in the project, the absence of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding between CSE and the SDI Project, and the overall context of political pressure, all project activities were negatively affected by shifting expectations and confusing demands. Nevertheless, these deficiencies did not prevent the elections -- though flawed and initially contested by the Sandinista Front -- from being judged to be free and fair by national and international observers. Most importantly, the Nicaraguan population has accepted the results. IIDH/CAPEL advisors provided TA, commodities, and training that enabled the CSE to produce a partial voter list, the ad-hoc registry card, and the supplementary voting document. The assistance also helped the CSE improve its process for developing voter registry. However, constant interruptions due to emergencies prevented the project from completing the planned country-wide list in a timely manner. At the request of CSE, IIDH/CAPEL training assistance was limited. IIDH/CAPEL did not participate directly in the National Workshops held for the Training of Political Party Poll Watchers. However, the assistance provided in the design and production of training materials proved useful in the workshops. Overall, project TA and commodities were instrumental in the successful conduct of elections. While only a part of the technical advice provided IIDH/CAPEL was accepted by the CSE, the project fully achieved its principal objectives -- to design and implement a civic and voter education campaign resulting in a high degree of voter registration, high voter turnout on election day, and a low rate of annulled votes. (Author abstract, modified)