The CNE and the Signature Forgery: Chronological Order of Facts
July 2009
The current Code of Democracy is accepted and starts the race for political parties and movements to register or re-register in the 2013 elections.
March 2010
Political groups begin to collect signatures.
November 2010
The Popular Democratic Movement (MPD for its Spanish acronym) is the first national party to obtain legal status in the 2013 elections with 170,553 members.
July 18, 2012
Deadline for political groups to deliver the signatures required for its registration or re-registration in the electoral process.
July 26, 2012
The National Electoral Council (CNE for its Spanish acronym) asks the Prosecutors’ Office to investigate the forgery of 293 signatures; 63 of them belong to agency officials, who appear affiliated with political groups.
July 27, 2012
Hundreds of voters found that their names appeared on the computer system of the CNE as members or adherents of political parties and movements.
July 31, 2012
The CNE starts manual verification of 10% of the signatures submitted by the political groups.
August 5, 2012
The CNE announces review of 100% of the signatures because the sampling report showed inconsistency in all groups approved.
August 7, 2012
The Prosecutors’ Office decides not to investigate the CNE members over forged signatures.
August 10, 2012
President Rafael Correa warned that if is necessary he will ask for a monitor license to verify 100% of the signatures submitted to the CNE by political groups.
August 26, 2012
The CNE starts 100% verification of signatures with the system that had worked since the beginning of the process.
August 27, 2012
CNE Members recognize computer system failures and the process get delayed.
August 29, 2012
The CNE tested Controles INC. computer system, contracted for comprehensive verification of more than five million signatures.
August 30, 2012
The signature verification process starts again with the signatures provided by the Popular Democratic Movement (MPD).
(MZ)

On 9 August, representatives of political movements protested at the CNE for the reviewing of signatures