During a press conference held on Tuesday, 15 October 2019, the president of the Central Electoral Board (JCE), Julio César Castaños Guzmán, disputed accusations of automated voting equipment tampering made by former President Leonel Fernandez. Castaños Guzmán said that the fire at the JCE headquarters had nothing to do with the computerized voting equipment. He said the equipment suffered no damages because the machines were kilometers away from where the fire happened. He said the fire was caused by a short circuit. He said the security keys that were used for the automated equipment did not exist on the day of the fire.
Castaños Guzmán said the data results were transmitted on virtual private networks (VPN) administered by Altice and Claro telecoms. He said the JCE has requested that they certify if those lines were violated during the transmission. On Tuesday, 15 October 2019, the JCE published on their website a certification received from Altice that indicated that only the JCE had access to the contracted VPN. Claro also responded on the same day indicated that the lines operated exclusively for the contracted service and did not interact with the other private lines the JCE had contracted with the company.
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16 October 2019