Today in Bolivia the public will have a chance to vote into office fifty two judges. Bolivia is the first country in South America to change their electoral system for judges. The country has a system of old, decrepit prisons which are "open". This means there are no separate cells separating prisoners, instead they are allowed to congregate in one main area. These prisoners, mostly poor and unable to afford a lawyers, can wait months and years to see a judge and be formally charged with a crime. The 2,000 inmates of San Pedro prisons live without plumbing and are forced to sleep on mattresses on the ground. Many see this as a direct reflection of the Bolivian judiciary system. Amazingly, 50% of the candidates for the judge positions are required to be women and no one can be closely related to a political party. This seems to be a far cry from American judiciary politics. The Bolivian people are required by law to vote in this election, hopefully this will allow the public's wishes to be heard and force the government to change the prison system. And it may even start a chain reaction in South America to help support democratic elections of public officials.
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/10/201110169924243497.html
Posted by Kendall Bilbro
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