A.M. on Droit de Seigneur

[NewsWhore]

Diario Libre Editor Adriano Miguel Tejada says that the Central Electoral Board (JCE) is claiming a kind of "Droit de Seigneur" when it comes to information on Election Day. Tejada, a noted author and lawyer, reminds readers of the medieval custom whereby the lord of the manor would take a vassal's bride for the first night after the wedding. He says this is what the JCE wants to do with the information stemming from the election process: halt the media from disseminating news on voting day, including results taken from exit polls, something that has been proven even in our media. Ever the lawyer, Tejada says that the Electoral Law establishes that the full board of the JCE "will take control of the transmissions relating to the electoral process", and obliges private media, which are not obliged to network with the JCE, to refrain from releasing information that "bothers the normal unfolding of the election process". He says that an elemental idea of public law and order establishes that false or distorted information shall not be disseminated, but the Constitution establishes the privilege of freedom of thought, only restricted by public order and good manners. Diario Libre's editor-in-chief says that releasing the results of an exit poll that comes from an institution well versed in this type of operation does not violate any disposition, whether constitutional or legal. On the contrary, it can clear the air when a candidate has certain reticence to admit defeat. Moreover, it is the right of the people to be informed about something so important. Therefore, he concludes: down with the droit de seigneur in the election wedding!

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