Computerized voting system costing billions

The attempts by the Central Electoral Court (JCE) since 2016 to computerize and automate the different phases of the general election, will have cost the state by 2020 more than RD$2.8 billion. In 2016, the JCE spent around US$39.7 million using equipment bought from Indra Sistema, but an evaluation carried out by the JCE Information Department established that the 49,200 pieces of equipment including scanners, printers and fingerprint readers were not suitable for using again and they are currently languishing in a warehouse at a storage fee of US$25,000 per month.

Now the JCE is proposing to use a different automated voting system, developed by their in-house technicians that will be used for the primaries and then rolled out for the full elections in 2020.

It is estimated that they will need around 55,000 pieces of equipment costing over RD$1 billion, which could increase if the parties agree to use them in the elections. It will mean buying 11,000 of each of five pieces of equipment for the automated vote, printers, code readers, elector identifications units as well as portable battery operated inverters.

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Diario Libre

5 March 2019