In February 2019, the Central Electoral Board (JCE) agreed with political parties to hire an independent firm to audit the vulnerabilities of the chosen automated voting system, but the call for bids was not made. Instead, now university technology departments are being asked to render a technical audit.
The JCE also said they have invited electoral experts from the Organization of American States to assess the 6 October 2019 primary. The OAS agreed to send Gerardo Sánchez García and Alejandro Bravo, of the OAS Department for Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) to observe the primaries.
The automated system to be used for the 2020 general elections was created by JCE technicians and will be tested for the first time during the 6 October 2019 primary to choose the presidential candidates for the ruling Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) and the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). The system is a hybrid and will be offline and connected to the Internet after the votes have been cast for the tallying and reporting of the results.
Dominican universities Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Instituto Tecnológico de las Américas (ITLA) and Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) accepted a request from the Central Electoral Board (JCE) to look into reviewing the new automated voting system for ballot traceability. Does the system guarantee secrecy of the vote? There is concern that there could be attempts to influence the voter by intimidation. The Dominican government is the leading employer in the Dominican Republic and has convened most cabinet ministers to back the pre-candidacy of Gonzalo Castillo.
Will the system be able to tell if a person has already voted? The universities are also being asked for their opinion on the system’s risk of being hacked.
Rector Alfredo de la Cruz Baldera for PUCMM; rector Rolando Guzmán and IT director Eric Barinas of INTEC; rector José Armando Tavárez for (ITLA); rector Julio Amado Castaños and IT director Benjamín Alcántara and technology cybersecurity director for UNIBE Erick Barinas (Intec) participated in the first meeting on the matter.
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19 September 2019