On December 6, Venezuela will hold
parliamentary elections amidst a highly polarized political environment.
Authorities are expecting 20 million voters who will elect 167 representatives
from 1,800 candidates.
Amongst the upheaval and uncertainty, at
least one factor has remained a constant in Venezuelan politics for over a
decade: the continued advancement and improved deployment of e-voting
technology.
Indeed, even though more than 14,000
polling stations will be open and millions of ballots will be cast on December
6, the official results will likely be available and reported within just a few
hours of the polls closing. This is because of the 100% automated voting
platform, from voter registration to the electronic capture of the ballot on a
direct-recording e-voting machine, from the tabulation of results to the proclamation
of the successful candidates. Electronic voting can bring about incredible
benefits when it comes to complex elections of this type and the expedient and
secure reporting of the results is just one of them.
After using electronic counting for six
years, Venezuelan moved to electronic voting in 2004. From the 13 elections that took place between 2004 and 2013, a total of over 340 million votes were
processed, over half a million voting machines were deployed, nearly 300,000
operators were trained, and some 5,600 candidates were elected through this
end-to-end voting infrastructure and system.
Throughout this experience, e-voting has
played an integral role in improving the efficiency, security and effectiveness
of the democratic process. Venezuela has held the most automated elections in
Latin America.
Looking ahead to the December parliamentary
elections, Venezuelans can fully expect this strong history and pedigree of
successful e-voting will continue with the integrity of audits, the
user-friendly experience of the voting machines and the remarkably expedient
reporting of results.
