51 receive candidacies) by the Coastal People Party Alliance (PPC), and to the Supreme Electoral Council on July 17, 2000, when the time limit had expired; the details correspond to [a] list [of candidates whose names are] included” in the said record.85 E) DECISIONS OF THE SUPREME ELECTORAL COUNCIL, THE CIVIL CHAMBER OF THE RAAN COURT OF APPEAL, THE CONSTITUTIONAL CHAMBER OF THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE, AND THE OMBUDSMAN’S OFFICE RELATED TO THE PARTICIPATION OF THE YATAMA CANDIDATES IN THE ELECTIONS OF NOVEMBER 5, 2000 124(44) The Electoral Power is one of the four branches of government established by the Nicaraguan Constitution, together with the executive, legislative and judicial branches. It is composed of the Supreme Electoral Council, its highest organ, as well as of subordinate electoral organizations, such as the Electoral Councils of the Departments and of the Atlantic Coast Autonomous Regions, the Municipal Electoral Councils, and the Electoral Precinct Boards. It has the exclusive authority “to organize and manage elections, plebiscites [and] referendums.” 86 124(45) On June 7, 2000, the Supreme Electoral Council conducted “an official act to initiate the verification of signatures,” during which it began a process of verifying the signatures required by Article 77(7) of the 2000 Electoral Act, No. 331, for registering the candidates of the political parties with legal status.87 124(46) On July 18, 2000, the Supreme Electoral Council issued a resolution in which it indicated that “[t]he signatures presented by the political parties were submitted to the signature verification process, pursuant to the corresponding administrative procedures, and the decisions of the auditors and the Supreme Electoral Council.”88 In the resolution, the Supreme Electoral Council “reject[ed] the objections” raised by several candidates from various political parties and “beg[an] the process of canceling the legal status of the political parties that had not presented candidates and of the political parties that [would] not take part in the electoral process, because they did not comply with the requirements for the registration of candidates. The Supreme Electoral Council indicated that, among others, the Coastal People Party (PPC), which headed the Alliance with YATAMA in the RAAS (supra paras. 124(38) and 124(39)), had not presented the 3% of the signatures required by Article 77 of the 2000 85 Cf. certification of May 3, 2005, issued by the Director General for Political Parties of the Supreme Electoral Council (file of preliminary objections, merits, and reparations, tome V, folio 1735). 86 Cf. 1987 Constitution of the Republic of Nicaragua with the constitutional reforms. Official publication of the President’s Office and Electoral Act No. 331 of January 24, 2000 (appendixes to the brief with preliminary objections, answering the application and with comments on the brief with requests and arguments, appendixes C and D, file of preliminary objections, merits and reparations, tome II, folio 5); and Electoral Observation in Nicaragua: 2000 Municipal Elections/Unit for the Promotion of Democracy, Americas Series, No. 27, General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 19, folios 624 and 625). 87 Cf. resolution issued by the Supreme Electoral Council on July 18, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 15(1), folio 596); and Electoral Act No. 331 of January 24, 2000 (appendixes to the brief with preliminary objections, answering the application and with comments on the brief with requests and arguments, appendix D, file of preliminary objections, merits and reparations, tome II, folio 34). 88 Cf. resolution issued by the Supreme Electoral Council on July 18, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 15(1), folio 596).