In an interview on El Dia on Channel 11 yesterday, Monday 6 June 2016, National District Electoral Board president Santiago Sosa said that between 25% and 30% of the electoral colleges had not used the scanners that they were supposed to use in the 15 May elections. The scanners cost taxpayers US$39 million.
He said that the scanners were not used for a variety of reasons. In some cases they simply never arrived, in others there were no technicians to install them or explain how to use them, and in some they were unable to get them to work.
He said they had hoped to start installing the scanners on Friday, 13 May 2016, two days before the elections, but this involved 6,000 scanners and neither adequate transport nor military personnel was available to install them and the logistics just failed.
He went on to say that at dawn on Saturday, 14 May 2016 when they started to distribute the equipment, they were unable to do this and they were around 500 technicians short.
Entre 20 y 30% de colegios electorales del Distrito no contó con escáneres
