60 and the Coastal Unity Movement Party (PAMUC) in the RAAN, which obtained “0.3% of the valid votes in the two Autonomous Regions.”121 124(69) In the RAAN, there was an abstention level of almost 80%, because part of the electorate, composed of members of indigenous and ethnic communities, was not adequately represented by the national parties.122 124(70) The application of Electoral Act No. 331 of 2000, and the requirements for constituting a political party reduced the possibilities of participation by the Atlantic Coast indigenous and ethnic organizations. More than 20 political parties had taken part in the 1996 presidential elections.123 124(71) On November 8, 2000, the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), the Coastal Unity Movement Party (PAMUC), the Indigenous Multiethnic Party (PIM), the Nicaraguan Christian Road (CCN) and the Conservative Party (PCN), “with legal status and national and regional representation, participants in the [...] municipal elections of November 5, [2000], in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN),” requested the Supreme Electoral Council “to declare the nullity of the elections in the RAAN [... and] to organize new municipal elections in the RAAN with the inclusion of the YATAMA Indigenous Party,” since “[d]uring the electoral campaign and the elections in this region, there were acts of violence and social tension, that did not allow the normal exercise of the right to vote[, a s]ituation that arose from the exclusion of the YATAMA Indigenous Party and as a demonstration of the coastal population’s dissent, which culminated in an electoral abstention [...] in excess of 80% of the electoral roll.”124. 121 Cf. Desarrollo humano en la Costa Caribe de Nicaragua [Human Development in the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua]. Report prepared by the Programa Nacional de Asesoría para la Formulación de Políticas with the support of the Consejo Nacional de Planificación Económica Social (CONPES) (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 7, folio 513); 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 649); and newspaper Article entitled “Fraude Consumado”, published in “El Nuevo Diario” on July 19, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 22, folio 773). 122 Cf. 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 and Second Report. The Carter Center Mission to Evaluate Electoral Conditions in Nicaragua, November 1-8, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendixes 19 and 20, folios 651 and 715). 123 Cf. 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, and Second Report. The Carter Center Mission to Evaluate Electoral Conditions in Nicaragua, November 1-8, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendixes 19 and 20, folios 644 and 715); newspaper Articles published in “El Nuevo Diario” entitled “YATAMA afuera” on October 27, 2000, “YATAMA preocupa a la OEA” on October 28, 2000, and “Policía cree que puede controlar a los YATAMA” on October 31, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 22, folios 796, 798 and 802); and request for annulment of the elections in the RAAN filed on November 8, 2000, before the Supreme Electoral Council by the Sandinista National Liberation Front Party (PFSLN), the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), the Coastal Unity Movement Party (PAMUC), the Indigenous Multiethnic Party (PIM), the Nicaraguan Christian Way Party (CCN) and the Nicaraguan Conservative Party (PCN), of November 8, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 22, folio 846). 124 Cf. request for annulment of the elections in the RAAN filed on November 8, 2000, before the Supreme Electoral Council by the Sandinista National Liberation Front Party (PFSLN), the Constitutionalist Liberal Party (PLC), the Coastal Unity Movement Party (PAMUC), the Indigenous Multiethnic Party (PIM), the Nicaraguan Christian Road Party (CCN) and the Conservative Party of Nicaragua (PCN), of November 8, 2000 (file of appendixes to the application, tome II, appendix 22, folio 846).