Albanian Elections, CEC delays technology usage


12/06/2013 19:35

11 days from the elections, the Central Election Commission has still no answer for the electronic voters’ identification project in Tirana.

While Indra company has been paid most of the 2.6 million EUR fee for this esrvice, the Central Election Commission gives no guarantee that the project will be realized.

The opposition suspects that the process is being intentionally compromised by the Central Election Commission

“I want to hear the Central Election Commission availability to analyze the project and know when the Central Election Commission will introduce the acts for the project confirmation”, declared the Socialist Party representative, Genc Gjoncaj.

“The reports were sent to Indra, and are waiting for the company to give their report, and then we will take a decision”, declared the Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission, Lefteri Lleshi,

The Central Election Commission did not answer to Top Channel’s question about when the reports of the political parties were sent to contracting company. The company says that the Central Election Commission has shown no interest to accelerate the process, leaving unexplained the question why the highest electoral institution delays the reception of a service they have paid for.

The agreement between the Central Election Commission and Indra, a copy of which Top Channel has been able to secure, shows that the test should have been held on April 23rd, but it was held on June 8th.

Besides the delay for almost one month and a half, what raises other questions on the agreement terms is that the Central Election Commission has agreed to pay 90% of the fee until the test is held, leaving only 10% of the agreement for after the elections.

Despite the problems, the political parties believe that the project brings a novelty to the system. If an elector votes more than once, each of the biggest parties can be notified in real time.

This device can also identify a falsified identity card or passport, since it makes the verification of the document.

But if the parties believe that this technology is one step ahead, the position that the Central Election Commission has held remains unexplained, and they have declared the usage of technology in these elections a warned failure.