The RENIEC and the ONPE are also subject to controversy and allegations of political manipulation.

The presidents of both agencies are appointed by the National Judicial Council whose membership is

largely beholden to the Executive. There have been numerous investigations of RENIEC, examining

whether agents of the National Intelligence Service (SIN) had infiltrated the agency, whether staff were

engaged in corruption, and why 50,000 military and police personnel were able to vote, illegally, in the

1995 elections. Members of ONPE staff were also cited for their collaboration with the massive

falsification of signatures in the registration of the pro Fujimori party, Peru 2000, and actual

manipulation of the vote count on election day.

In summary, not only has the electoral process become limited as an arena of free and fair competition

and as a means for reigning in state authority, but also the official arbiters of the  game  themselves have

been called into question.  There are other actors who can or should serve as allies in an effort to restore

fair play. First, the competitors themselves   parties and movements   are allowed and encouraged to

field poll watchers to observe the voting booths on elections day, to assure that there is no fraud.

However, the sheer number of voting locales (over 3,000) and individual voting tables or booths (87,000

mesas de votacion

 nationwide) makes this a daunting task; in the 2000 election, none of the competing

parties had the social bases or local on the ground structures to cover this.  Although opposition parties

had originally agreed to coordinate their poll watching activities in the 2000 contest, the ultimately were

unable to do so.  Parties, civic groups, and international observers all pointed out that in the charged

political climate of 2000, unless a voting booth was monitored the potential for errors and abuse was

quite high. Because of this, the Ombudsman s staff and volunteers also played an important role in

monitoring approximately 30% of the voting locales during the first round election on April 9.

Within civil society, the most important actor is the 

Asociacion Civil Transparencia,

 a non partisan NGO

that has observed all general and municipal elections since its founding in 1994, using a national network

of volunteers. Its goal is to enhance participation and transparency in the electoral process by training

poll watchers, conducting voter education efforts, and promoting legal initiatives related to reform of the

electoral system.  

Transparencia

 is a membership organization, but its main financial support comes

from international donors. Other key allies in 

Transparencia

's efforts are Catholic, Jewish and Protestant

churches, which assist in providing local offices, transportation, and volunteers. 

Transparencia

 also has

collaboration agreements with approximately 250 NGOs throughout Peru and coordinates closely with

the 

Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos

.

In the first round of elections on April 9, 2000, 

Transparencia

 fielded 19,000 volunteer observers and

did a parallel  quick count  of a sample of 1,020 voting tables which became the center of public debate

about the first round results (see below).  It also monitored all issues of concern during the pre electoral

campaign, including media coverage of candidates, the use or misuse of state resources, and the accuracy

of the electoral registry.  Between elections, however, 

Transparencia

's role is less well defined. The

relative emphasis that core staff places on activities such as ongoing civic education or advocacy for

political reform depends in part on the willingness of donors to support them.

2. 

Parties and the Party System

Peru has never had a strong party system. Throughout the 20

th

 century, authoritarian rulers generally

proscribed and persecuted reform oriented parties, or made efforts to replace them with various forms of

corporatist state control. Even when party competition was permitted, it involved just a small elite and

excluded a significant share of the population until 1980.

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