Votación automatizada en Venezuela
 Friday, June 11, 2004


  NYT: Venezuelan Recall Is in Dispute Even Before the Vote

Por lo general no me gustan los artículos de Juan Forero, pero en este aparecen unas citas importantes que reflejan algunos de los problemas con el sistema de votación automatizada que piensa usarse en Venezuela y la manera como pretende llevarse a cabo.

Vale la pena leerlo todo, pero aquí resalto los comentarios más importantes (texto en negritas es mio).

Link al artículo completo: Venezuelan Recall Is in Dispute Even Before the Vote

(...) the Venezuelan government's electoral council said it would not permit observers to run a simultaneous audit of the electronic vote counting during the Aug. 15 recall, as electoral experts in the United States said is common practice.

"What is the dark reason for not doing this?" said Enrique Mendoza, an opposition leader. "This is strange and not very transparent."

(...) One solution, electoral and computer experts say, is the use of manual audits of the receipts the machines produce for every vote cast.

"That is the most normal thing in an electoral process, and that they would deny it is absurd," said a diplomat in Caracas who has closely monitored elections here and in other Latin countries. "What serious electoral board would not permit an observation, as is done everywhere?"

(...) the electoral council has opposed an audit, saying that as an autonomous body it would tally the votes and ensure there is no fraud. Some pro-Chávez members of the council, in fact, have suggested that the O.A.S. does not need to monitor the election, or that its role should be restricted.

(...) "A fully electronic computer can be programmed to produce whatever outcome the developers - or the people in charge of the developers - want it to," said Aviel D. Rubin, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University.

Mr. Rubin led a team last year that performed the first rigorous security analysis of software used in machines by Diebold Election Systems, an industry leader in the United States. "Anybody who was really concerned with a fair outcome would encourage as far an outside review of the machines as possible," he said.

(...) Mr. Rubin said it is crucial to ensure that the companies chosen to supply machines and software be experienced and have a proven track record, particularly in an election as important as Venezuela's.


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