In the midst of the digital era, technology has changed all aspects of daily life, including the election process. From voter registration to vote counting, the role of technology in the administration of elections has increased worldwide, but not yet in Spain.
Based on International Institute for Democracy and Electoral AssistanceAt the moment 34 out of 178 countries use electronic voting at the national or regional levelHe. As innovative as it may seem, calculating and analyzing data on a large scale has been relevant since the late 19th century. Entelgy, a consultancy specializing in business technology, has reviewed the history of the vote registration and counting system.
For contextualization, apart from the scanning system, there are several electronic voting systems available. This includes electronic ballot boxes, where voter preferences are recorded electronically and the stored data is transferred to a counting centre; mixed systems, where voters make their choice at a voting machine that prints a paper receipt that must be scanned on another device; as good Internet electronic voting system which allows voters to make choices by connecting to a web page via any electronic device.
The Spanish government has created a website and mobile application to follow the elections in real time
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Spain does not allow electronic voting
Spain is not the only EU country that does not allow electronic voting. Currently, only four EU countries allow it: Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia and France. However, in France, it is only available for voting abroad and in certain elections. In addition, countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and the UK have crippled the initiative to implement such a system. In Switzerland, e-voting was discontinued in 2019 due to security concerns, but following a review of the system, new trials are under way in several cantons.
In Spain, several attempts at electronic voting have been made from time to time
in spanish, various attempts at electronic voting have been carried out from time to timeincluding the Demotek system developed by the Basque Government in 1998, which uses ballot boxes to scan ballots, whose data was encrypted and tested in the regional elections of Catalonia in 2003. Tests were also conducted with other systems in Toro (Zamora) and Pol (Lugo) in 2004, as well as in the European Constitutional referendum in 2005.
Finally, Jose Antonio Rocha, Entelgy’s Digital Business Process Director, the automation of vote counting and the digitization of the electoral system have been the subject of debate and innovation throughout history. While there are advanced and reliable technologies in data analytics, automation and blockchain to digitize democratic processes, there is still a long way to go before electronic voting becomes a reality in Spain.
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