After the failures of the telematic voting system, which led to the cancellation of the vote of foreign deputies, the plenary session of the National Electoral Council (CNE) reformed the rules of the presidential and legislative elections, during a meeting held on Monday . night.

The CNE repealed article 18 which provided that in foreign constituencies the telematic voting method would be applied. The agency thus restored in-person voting for Ecuadorian migrants residing abroad.

Thus, the migrants will exercise their right to vote in person for the second electoral round, on October 15, as well as to repeat the elections of the members of the national and foreign assemblies of the constituencies: Europe, Asia and Oceania; United States and Canada; Latin America, Caribbean and Africa.

During Monday’s session, CNE President Diana Atamaint voted in favor of regulatory reform and the introduction of face-to-face voting in the three overseas constituencies, as we have always done traditionally, she said.

Atamaint said that this decision “is not due to any proposal from a political party”, but that it is the responsibility of the CNE, in accordance with the Constitution and the Code of Democracy, to respect the right of participation of the Ecuadorians abroad.

Regarding the contract with the company AntroProyectos, the President of the Council announced that “he will act by informing the competent authorities, in the first place the Comptroller General of the State and, if necessary, the Public Prosecutor’s Office”.

For his part, Vice President Enrique Pita, who also voted in favor of the reform, said that telematic voting represented a technological advance for the electoral process. But, given the issues raised, he acknowledged that the telematic system implemented in the current process has suffered cyberattacks, which have prevented several migrants from voting.

Pita suggested to the plenary session of the CNE that the institution take legal action through the Office of the Attorney General of the State, since what happened is in accordance with articles 232 and 334 of the Integral Organic Penal Code (COIP). ).

These articles deal respectively with the offenses of attacking the integrity of computer systems and electoral fraud.

“We have an obligation to watch over and protect the participation rights of Ecuadorians,” commented the vice-president of the CNE.

He said telematic voting started with a pilot plan in the 2021 presidential elections, in accordance with the Code of Democracy, and in the February 2023 sectional elections, in 52 of the 101 foreign regions, “without any inconvenience”. And that in the early elections, it was no longer a pilot plan, but that it was essential to apply this method of voting due to the short time available to organize the electoral process. (YO)