On Monday, Paraguay’s Superior Electoral Court (TSJE) began a technical verification process of the voting machines that will be used in the internal elections on June 7 by the ruling Colorado Party and the opposition Authentic Radical Liberal Party (PLRA), in response to requests for review from both parties.

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The verification will continue until Thursday, with two days (Monday and Tuesday) for the Colorado Party, also known as the National Republican Association (ANR), and the remaining two (Wednesday and Thursday) for the PLRA. The process will focus on the hardware and software of the voting machines, explained Luis Alberto Mauro, Director of Electoral Commissions at the TSJE, to reporters.

According to Mauro, the machines will be “completely and utterly” disassembled during the review, and party representatives will be allowed to “ask any questions they may have.” Mauro recalled that an audit of the voting machines was conducted last February, according to the schedule for the October 4 municipal elections, with the participation of technical representatives from the political organizations.

However, he said that internal factions within the ANR and PLRA parties requested a technical review of the equipment. In a statement, the TSJE indicated that this review of the voting machines aims to “improve the transparency and security of the electoral process.”

The text reads, “Jan de Nul met with the U.S. ambassador amidst the bidding process for the Parana-Paraguay Waterway. They met with Peter Lamelas just days before the decision on the privatization of the Parana-Paraguay Waterway was to be made. The company explained its plans for the new concession and confirmed that all the technology and supplies it will use come from Western countries, particularly from U.S. suppliers, such as the surveillance cameras. It also denied any ties to Chinese state-owned companies and asserted that these claims are intended to ‘hinder the development of the bidding process’.”

On June 7, political parties must hold internal elections to select their candidates for the local elections, in which the positions of mayors and council members will be up for renewal in the 263 municipalities.

A total of 16,582 voting machines will be deployed nationwide for the simultaneous internal elections of the political organizations, according to TSJE data.

The electoral body has indicated that 4,338,716 voters are registered for the internal elections and 1,267 polling stations have been set up. The technical verification is in response to requests from the parties and is part of the electoral security protocols prior to the elections.

Source: EFE

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