Tag Archive for: Elections

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The Way of the Vote

A few days before the elections this Sunday, November 19, a new controversy has entered the public agenda: one of the parties competing in the runoff decided to deliver fewer ballots to the Electoral Justice to be distributed at the polling stations, alleging the fear that the ballots would disappear and citizens would not be able to exercise their right to vote. However, this claim has several inconsistencies.

The political parties are responsible for the printing of the ballots and their distribution, for which the State grants them the necessary funds to do so. For these elections, the National Electoral Directorate valued each ballot at $2.92, granting each party the equivalent of 2 and a half padrones. This means that 2 and a half ballots per party are printed for each voter.

For example, only for the category of presidency and vice-presidency in the PASO 2023, each party was granted a little more than 103 million pesos to be used exclusively for the printing of ballots. Although the parties may decide to print fewer ballots than those established by the Law, if they do so, they are obliged to return the unearned amount.

The parties may choose to distribute the ballots on their own or give them to the Electoral Board to take them to the voting centers, distributing bundles of 350 ballots for each table plus 2 extra bundles for contingencies, or four more if the center has more than 9 tables.

Even if the Electoral Justice were given a bundle of 350 ballots per table -which would be enough to cover all the people who are going to vote-, the party would retain a total of one and a half ballot lists to dispose of freely, either by distributing them the days prior to the election or by using them as contingency ballots during the electoral process, with which not only would there be no lack of ballots, but there would be ballots left over.

The problem lies elsewhere. The system ensures that each voter has his or her party ballot available to vote, but why would the parties not deliver the necessary ballots to the electoral authorities? Wouldn’t this be a waste of resources and, above all, a possible “black box”? According to an investigation by El Ruido and Connectas, in this year’s PASO only one list out of the 1,818 that ran for election returned the surplus of unprinted ballots. Moreover, 8 billion pesos went to ballots of parties that did not exceed 1.5% of the votes.

It is because of things like these that many organizations have been asking, for a long time, for a Single Paper Ballot system. But it is also true that the current procedure is reliable and has so far reflected the will of the electorate, and there is not a single indication of fraud. In fact, sometimes there are those who prefer to raise the specter of fraud rather than accept that they were not an option for the citizens.

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Democracy is improved with more democracy

Democracy is much more than going to vote and electing authorities periodically. It is collectively building a society and a political system based on respect for diversity, without violence, where it is recognized that the path to development goes hand in hand with the defense of democratic institutions. In these elections, let us keep in mind 40 years of learning as a society. Let us not throw away the democracy we have achieved.

In these 40 years, we have learned to respect differences, to value the plurality of voices, to prefer dialogue to violence. The democratic pact was synthesized in the Nunca Más (Never Again), and from there -with difficulties and many pending issues- we have advanced in more rights for more people. This society voted in 30 elections that reliably reflect the will of the electorate. It is an electoral system we can trust.

Today, the undersigned civil society organizations see with concern how the electoral contest is taking place in the midst of proposals and speeches of hate and political violence, offensive and discriminatory.

These speeches are unacceptable and encourage us to move away from the democratic pact that we have worked so hard to uphold. The idea, which we thought was outdated, that a political adversary is an enemy takes us back to our worst times and can only bring chaos and violence to our daily lives.

There is no doubt that Argentina’s democracy has debts. Therefore, our new democratic pact, the one for the next 40 years, must incorporate bases for development and, in addition, promote practices that bring public institutions closer to citizens in order to improve the lives of all. Democracy is improved with more democracy.

  • Abogadas y abogados del Noroeste Argentino en Derechos Humanos y Estudios Sociales (Andhes)
  • Amnistía Internacional Argentina
  • ARDA (Asociación de Reducción de Daños de Argentina) 
  • Asociación Conciencia
  • Asociación Pensamiento Penal
  • CAREF
  • Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
  • Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (Cippec)
  • Democracia en Red
  • Equipo Latinoamericano de Justicia y Género (ELA)
  • Escuela de fiscales
  • Fundación Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (FARN)
  • Fundación Cambio Democrático
  • Fundación Endeavor Argentina
  • Fundación Huésped
  • Fundar
  • Fundeps
  • Greenpeace Argentina
  • INECIP
  • Intercambios
  • Nuestra Mendoza
  • Poder Ciudadano
  • Proyecto Educar 2050
  • RACI
  • Red por los Derechos de las Personas con Discapacidad (REDI)
  • Reset, políticas de drogas y Derechos Humanos
  • Salta Transparente
  • Xumek Mendoza
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The province of Cordoba in decline: implementation of electronic voting

On December 21, a draft law presented by the executive seeking the implementation of electronic voting was approved in the legislature of Córdoba. It is important to point out the dangers of such a system for our democracy.

“Below, we offer a google translate version of the original article in Spanish. This translation may not be accurate but serves as a general presentation of the article. For more accurate information, please switch to the Spanish version of the website. In addition, feel free to directly contact in English the person mentioned at the bottom of this article with regards to this topic.”

On December 21, the Cordovan legislature approved a controversial bill that calls for reform of the provincial voting system. Although at the national level this initiative seems to be ruled out, the provincial executive presented a project that was approved without difficulties.

Much has been debated in recent weeks, and we believe it is very important to join the voices that express the dangers of an electronic voting system in. At present, this system is in decline worldwide due to the shortcomings that it implies in the matter of control. The voting process is too central to our way of life to rely on uncontrollable mechanisms.

The approved project does not specify technical issues about the system beyond the implementation of the single electronic ballot; And recognizes the limitations of this system by prohibiting the use of electronic devices within a radius of 300 meters to control. In addition, computer experts have repeatedly expressed the dangers and shortcomings of electronic voting: no one can know for sure what the computer does, it is insecure, it does not guarantee the secrecy of the vote, it is more expensive, it erodes confidence in the Electoral system, limits the right to control elections and limits the capacity to be fiscal (not any citizen can do it).

It is noteworthy that in the province we already have a single paper ticket system that has been recognized as one of the best alternatives for the electoral system; In addition, it is used in the world, in countries like South Korea, Japan, Germany, Australia and Holland among many others. This system avoids the theft of ballots and is transparent to the elector. The change to an electronic system then implies a clear setback.

In this context, there is concern about the speed and lack of discussion in the treatment of a subject of key importance, as well as the lack of answers to the technical and legal objections that have been presented to this proposal.

More information

Contact

Agustina Palencia, agustinapalencia@fundeps.org