The director of the National Office of Electoral Processes (ONPE), Mariano Cucho Espinoza, emphasized ONPE´s intention to increase the use electoral technology for the upcoming October 5th municipal and regional elections.
Acknowledging the ONPE’s responsibility to safeguard the true and free expression of the popular will, he indicated that the electronic voting system would modernize the electoral process. Authorities are planning to use e-voting in the districts of: Punta Hermosa, Punta Negra, San Bartolo, Pucusana and Santa María del Mar in Metropolitan Lima as well as the districts of La Punta, El Callao and Pacarán in Cañete.
As part of the ceremony commemorating the 19th anniversary of the ONPE, Mr. Cucho stated that “Among the advantages of electronic voting are being able to obtain an immediate result as well as the ease with which voters will be able to exercise their right to vote in a faster and more pleasantly.”
Cucho explained that electronic voting is different from the traditional method because it uses software that can automatically authenticate voters, record and count the votes, and transmit the results. Training voters, as well as electoral officials, will be key to avoid the inconveniences that could arise as a result of voters not fully understanding the voting process.
He also announced that in the October elections, an automated tallying system would be used once again in the same36 districts that tried it in March of this year.