Argentine elections: Electronic system adopted by Macri fails in first nationwide test
Preparations for the first round in this year's general elections in Argentina were marred by a massive failure in a new electronic system used to transmit precinct summaries to central tabulation centers.
The test, carried out on June 29, included 10,000 of the nation's 15,000 precincts, and were meant to showcase the new electronic transmission system contracted by President Mauricio Macri to replace the existing system of transmitting precinct summaries by postal service telegram.
Instead, 67% of precinct summaries failed to upload - reportedly because the laptops used to send them could not connect to the central system.
Spokespeople from SmartMatic, a Boca Raton-based firm contracted by Macri for $17 million, called the problem "normal" and assured that the second test, scheduled for July 20, will go smoothly.
Argentina holds its first round of voting on August 11.
Potential disaster
The chief counsel for the opposition Justicialist Party (PJ), Jorge Landau, formally requested the National Electoral Chamber (CNE) to bar SmartMatic from taking any part in the upcoming elections.
"Beyond the failures observed in the data transmission simulation, this system is very vulnerable and does not provide security guarantees that the tabulation can be carried out without problems," Landau said.
"This can end in a disaster," PJ chairman José Luis Gioja added. "That's why we ask for a return to the old system of minutes of scrutiny and telegrams."
SmartMatic, founded in Venezuela in 1999, oversaw every federal election there from 2004 to 2015 - but has been linked to serious irregularities in Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda.
The firm, cybersecurity expert Javier Smaldone noted, replaced Spanish-based Indra (which had provided data services for Argentine elections since 1997) by under-bidding them - and despite scoring lower on technical evaluation tests than its competitors.
"SmartMatic software cannot be verified," University of Buenos Aires Professor Ariel Garbarz added, "because its source code is secret and thus doesn't allow parties to check anything, as the law requires."
At: https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&tab=wT&sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.baenegocios.com%2Fpolitica%2FEl-PJ-reclamo-volver-al-sistema-de-actas-de-escrutinio-y-telegramas-20190705-0015.html
The chairman of the opposition Justicialist Party, José Luis Gioja (left), and nominee Alberto Fernández during a recent campaign appearance.
"We have well-founded suspicions to affirm that the electoral process could be violated," Gioja warned.
