30 days before the elections, less than 10% of Ecuadorians registered abroad have registered to exercise their right to vote electronically.

The records of the National Electoral Council (CNE) indicate that there are 409,250 registered voters, of which 35,262 Ecuadorians residing abroad are registered, which corresponds to 8.62%.

The vote of Ecuadorians abroad will be telematic and voluntary, but to exercise this right to elect the President and Vice President of the Republic, the members of the National Assembly, the members of the Assembly from abroad and the popular consultation Yasuní 2023, they must register and will be able to do so until the day of the process.

In the case of Assembly members from abroad, there are three constituencies: Canada and the United States; Latin America, Caribbean and Africa; and Europe, Oceania and Asia. In each constituency, two representatives are elected to the National Assembly.

The vote will take place on Sunday, August 20, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., depending on the time zone of each electoral zone. The system will issue the digital voting certificate.

Silvia Espíndola, Deputy Minister of Human Mobility, revealed that 101 constituencies are activated that will vote electronically next August.

He recalled that voting is optional and that people residing abroad and who have registered until May 14, 2022 will be able to exercise their right to vote via their computer, tablet or mobile phone wherever they are.

Espíndola pointed out that the Ministry of Foreign Relations, through 65 consular offices, disseminates the electoral process and all the material provided by the CNE. Foreign residents can elect the president and vice president, the members of the national assembly and the members of the assembly of the foreign constituency in which they were registered and of the Yasuní 2023 consultation.

Stalin Cardona, adviser to the CNE, He said that all security measures have been taken in terms of facial recognition methodologies and security questions throughout his documents, so that he can exercise his right to vote.

He revealed that this type of vote worked for two electoral processes and in the electoral process of 2023, the recommendations of the technical assistance of international organizations were respected, which suggested the question of the application of new algorithms to separate the identification of citizens with the vote, that is, the system allows to record and establish a relationship between what their identification is and the option to vote.

For the 2019 elections, in the Council for Citizen Participation and Social Control (CPCCS), face-to-face voting was introduced, and for this purpose 85,375 presented themselves, i.e. 22% participation of citizens residing abroad.

in 2024, during the CPCCS elections and the referendum, two voting methods were carried out: face-to-face and telematic, for 52 electoral zones.

It was obtained that 54,278 citizens voted for the presidential election, which corresponds to 17% participation; In the telematic voting system, 17,940 citizens voted, or 77% of those who registered in the process.

Registration of citizens residing abroad can be done up until Election Day, but they must undergo facial biometrics processes and security questions that allow them to clearly identify who will be voting on Election Day. He software it is nimble, user-friendly, auditable and secure, the electoral adviser pointed out. (YO)