USAID/Nicaragua: Citizen Assistance Centers Help Nicaraguans Register to Vote

Citizen Assistance Centers Help Nicaraguans Register to Vote

Photo: Approximately 3,400 people have received assistance in obtaining birth certificates and voting documents from the Managua Citizen Assistance Center.

With U.S. government support, Movimiento por Nicaragua (MpN), a local civil society organization opened the first Citizen Assistance Center in Nicaragua on January 13, 2006 .

Located near Managua ’s central market, the Citizen Assistance Center is staffed by a lawyer and two secretaries. The purpose is to expedite the paperwork and legal process to acquire birth certificates, which are necessary to obtain voter ID cards. The pilot center has already surpassed its goal of assisting 1,500 voters in obtaining birth certificates and voting documents, providing services to more than 3,400 persons since the center opened.

Based on this success, seven other centers, with funding from USAID, have opened in Leon, Masaya, Esteli, Granada, Chinandega, Matagalpa, and Río Blanco. Through these centers, Nicaraguan citizens will be provided with information, forms and transportation to apply to the Supreme Electoral Council (CSE) for a national identification card, which will allow them to vote in upcoming national elections in November 2006.

Citizens will also have access to legal assistance in obtaining birth certificates, and on-site photographs and photocopies. Once citizens have submitted the forms and required documentation to the CSE, they can visit the centers to determine the status of their application and whether their information (name, address, etc.) has been correctly added to the voter registry.

Free legal advice will be available for those Nicaraguans whose applications have been delayed, denied or categorized as incomplete by the CSE. The centers will remain open through the November 2006 elections in order to help voters locate their polling stations.