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UNCLAS PANAMA 000580 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY - SENSITIVE CAPTION ADDED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PM
SUBJECT: PANAMA: 2009 NATIONAL ELECTION VOTER DEMOGRAPHICS 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) Panama is gearing up for the May 3, 2009 general 
election, in which Panamanians will choose all of their 
elected leaders - from President through National Assembly 
Deputies to mayors and city councilmen -- for a five-year 
term.  The Tribunal Electoral (TE) released on May 25 the 
preliminary voter registry, painting a picture of the 2.1 
million strong members of the voting-eligible public for 
whose attention the candidates will vie.  The ruling 
Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) is in the lead as far as 
registered voters. 
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2.1 million voters and 767 seats 
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¶2.  (U) According to Panama's Tribunal Electoral (TE), 
2,163,377 citizens (out of 3.3 million) will be eligible to 
vote in the May 3, 2009 general elections. Panamanians will 
choose 767 national and local elected officials, from 
President to National Assembly representatives to mayors to 
city councilmen for 5-year terms.  Panamanians vote only once 
every five years to select individuals for all of the 
country's elected offices. 
 
¶3.  (U) The eight parties had from June 1 to July 15 to 
challenge the voter registry and the data released on May 28. 
 The TE has until October 1 to examine these challenges. 
Later in the fall, the TE will allow further challenges by 
individuals who want to be included in the rolls - people 
turning 18 before election day, for example.  Voters who will 
turn 18 before election day in 2009 will be allowed to vote, 
although they must apply directly to the Padron Electoral by 
October 15, 2008 to receive their ID card (cedula) and be 
included in the voter registry.  The TE will also purge the 
rolls of individuals who should be excluded, such as recently 
deceased individuals. The final voter registry will be 
released on February 3, 2009. 
 
¶4. (U) The individual party primaries will take place from 
June through October, most notably the ruling Revolutionary 
Democratic Party (PRD) which will hold its primary on 
September 7.  The opposition's largest party, the Panamenista 
Party, recently held its primary on July 6, and the second 
largest opposition party, the Democratic Change party (CD), 
will choose its candidates on August 3. 
 
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Reaching Out to Young Voters 
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¶5. (U) One in five Panamanian voters is between 18 and 25 
years of age, and 53% are 40 or under. Candidates have 
noticed, and are reaching out to young voters with rallies, 
concerts, Facebook pages and internet postings.  As 
Panamanian general elections take place only once every five 
years, many of these voters up to the age of 22 years will be 
voting for the first time.  The TE expects more than 60,000 
new voters to cast their ballots for the first time. 
 
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Eight Parties, but PRD Rules 
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¶6.  (U) Eight registered political parties will vie for seats 
up and down the ticket, although the larger parties - the 
Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and the Panamenista 
Party, as well as political newcomer Democratic Change (CD), 
will likely be the only parties with full tickets in every 
precinct of Panama. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Only 41% of voters are registered with any 
political party, and roughly half of these voters (592,778) 
were registered with the ruling PRD as of May 28.  (NOTE: 
The rolls of the ruling party tend to swell after each 
election as new members join to obtain jobs in government. 
END NOTE)  Since the release of the voter registry, the PRD 
has been working hard to register new voters.  On July 14, 
the TE reported that the PRD has registered 10,122 new 
members, while the Panamenista Party has lost 2,697 members 
and the Democratic Change party lost 1,361 voters in recent 
months. 
 
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The Voters, Who Are They? 
------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) Almost half of all eligible voters (1,058,476) live 
in Panama province, more specifically 28% of all nationwide 
voters live in two large districts within Panama province - 
Panama Centro (18%) and San Miguelito (10%).  The bulk of the 
voters living outside of Panama province are in the rural 
provinces of Cocle, Colon and Veraguas, that combine to make 
up 21% of the voting population.  The TE lists 1,615 voters 
living abroad, the vast majority (69%) in the United States, 
although the actual number of eligible voters living abroad 
is likely much higher.  This total is artificially low due to 
difficulties registering to vote overseas.  Forty-nine 
percent (1,079,954) of all eligible voters are women. 
 
¶9.  (U) Voter turnout is normally robust in general 
elections, and the Tribunal Electoral expects a turnout of 
more than 75% in May, tracking with prior elections.  In 
2004, turnout was 76.9% and in 1999 turnout was 76.2% of the 
voting public. 
 
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Prisoners Can Vote, But Not Noriega 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Excluded from voting are 55,092 citizens who have 
not voted in the last three elections and have not applied to 
the TE to reinstate their status.  Among them, the media 
noted, is former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, who did 
not vote in the elections of 1994, 1999 or 2003. However, due 
to a penal reform law of 2006, for the first time prisoners - 
both those in pre-trial detention and convicts - will be 
eligible to vote.  However, the prohibition on voting still 
stands for persons convicted of electoral crimes.  (NOTE: 
Campaigning may be difficult in prisons, as TE regulations do 
not prohibit candidates from visiting prisons, but do 
prohibit campaigning.  END NOTE) 
 
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Comment 
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¶11. (U) COMMENT:  This is the first in an occasional series 
of cables that will endeavor to set the stage for the 2009 
Panamanian elections.  In the future, we plan to broaden the 
reader's knowledge of the Panamanian election process by, 
among other issues, delving further into the campaigns' 
efforts to reach the youth vote, addressing the difficulties 
of independent candidates, and providing a primer on the 
distribution of National Assembly seats.  END COMMENT. 
MESA