The telematic voting system of the National Electoral Council (CNE) suffered attacks and presented failures during the day of August 20 and in addition to preventing almost half of the 123,854 registered Ecuadorians, of the 409,250 registered abroad, to produce recordings with numerical inconsistencies. Enrique Pita, vice-president of the electorate, tells EL UNIVERSO that political formations that reject what happened have the right to take relevant legal action, although he points out that with the repeat of the elections of October 15, as well as the second cycle, guarantee the participation of this group of the population abroad.

When did you realize the inconsistencies you mentioned that foreigner tally sheets are being recorded following the attacks on the telematics voting system?

The CNE realized that very night that there was data that was not there, that it was false and that there were these inconsistencies. During the analysis of the results, when the results of what already existed started to be fed into the system, it automatically returned the information indicating that there were inconsistencies, which should not have occur.

Did you mention that the silence that the CNE maintained on the subject was the cause of the questions that were raised as to whether there was a legal basis for the resolution approved in plenary to repeat the elections?

I am not a spokesperson for the institution, I am an adviser and what I want is to explain a situation that in any case affects all of us, because they are all telling us that we are shameless and fraudulent crooks, is not it ? I came to tell what happened, but it was the responsibility of the National Electoral Council, of the communication sector and of which he is the spokesperson, to transmit this information in a timely manner.

Did these inconsistencies appear in the reports presented by the company in charge of the AntroProyectos system or was it the CNE that noticed them?

In its report to CNE, the company mentioned that there were recordings with numerical inconsistencies, attributing this to the attack on the system. The quantification was carried out by my firm.

According to their data, in constituencies in the United States and Canada, there were 92 tally sheets with inconsistencies; in Europe, Asia and Oceania, 244 minutes; and in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, 23 minutes, why is this figure higher in Europe?

I would not have clear information, the reasons cannot be detected in an already affected system.

Are you still determined to file a complaint with the state attorney general’s office for what happened with telematics voting?

Of course, because certainly, on the one hand, there is a problem with the contractor and it will be necessary to establish his responsibility to see to what extent he has not respected the terms of the contract, qualifying him as such, and also in the action and omission of those involved in all of this.

At the same time, political organizations such as Construye filed a complaint against the CNE authorities. Do you think they are viable or what procedure will they follow?

They are within their rights and it will obviously be up to them to respond within the framework of the law, but I obviously cannot question the fact that Construye or any political organization or candidate wants to take the relevant legal actions in the face of this situation.

In the February elections, telematic voting was used without news, was it the same company or not?

No, it wasn’t the same. On this occasion, it was the Polytechnic School of the Army (ESPE) which carried out this process and when it was a question of the institution to carry it out again, it could no longer do so if it did not was not allowed to partner with a private company and it was against the law and that is why we opened another appeal in which the company in question was rewarded.

The possible elected members of the assembly talk about the impact on the vote that the repetition of these elections will have, does the CNE envisage that the results change and that people are excluded?

Not only in the case of deputies of the National Assembly, but also of constituencies abroad, there are comments because yes, a result can certainly be changed when an electoral process is repeated and that is clear, but the decisions that we have to make are related to what corresponds and it is within the framework of the law. Obviously, there are those who feel aggrieved by this decision, but this is what the CNE should do without considering these kinds of consequences.

Abroad voting will be done in person. Do you think they will have the same level of participation as that estimated on August 20, that is to say the more than 120,000 registered compatriots?

One of the weaknesses of in-person voting abroad has been precisely the low participation of Ecuadorians due to problems of a logistical nature, work, distances, travel, and this is one of the advantages that brings telematic voting and must not be governed. … turnout will now be limited to what it has traditionally been and no more than 90,000 people voted, although I hope the situation will improve. (YO)