2. Table of Contents
2012 Venezuelan Regional Elections 2
Project scope and figures 3
Technology in Venezuelan elections 4
Technical audits 6
How do Venezuelans vote? 8
Noteworthy stories in the Venezuelan media 9
What are people saying about the Venezuelan voting system? 13
Citizen perception 13
Support for the voting system 13
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3. Venezuelan Regional Elections 2012
On December 16 2012, Venezuelans elected 23 Governors and 237 Regional Legislative
Council Representatives. Depending on each state’s population, anywhere between 7 and
15 legislators were chosen. In the context of this voting event, Smartmatic deployed its
electoral solution for the 11th time in the country, including services and equipment for a
100% automated national election, from voter authentication to the tallying and divulgation
of results.
Country: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
Capital: Caracas
Estimated population: 28,800,000
Administrative division: 23 states, 1 Capital District and Federal Dependencies
Type of State: Decentralized Federal State
Project: 2012 Regional Elections (for the 2013-2016 term).
Voter Registry: 17,421,946
Polling stations: 12,784
Electoral authority: Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE)
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4. Project scope and figures
On December 16, voters from 23 states chose their Governors and Legislative Council
Representatives for the 2013-2016 term. The National Electoral Council had 17,421,946
citizens registered to vote in 12,784 poll centers where 36,220 voting machines were
deployed.
The main elements involved in the Regional Elections Project were the following:
Automation of 100% of the polling stations
Deployment of 4 voting machine models: SAES 3300, 4000, 4200 y 4300
Use of the VP-1500 e-ballot (55% of the polling stations will have two of these)
Use of the voter biometric identification system
Setup and distribution of over 42,897 voting machines
Smartmatic was in charge of a number of tasks related to the election, some of which
went beyond its technological aspects:
1. Selection, hiring and training of the field staff (Voting Machine Operators,
Support Technicians, Information Station Operators, Contingency Transmission
Center Operators, Totaling Technicians, Inventory Operators, Special Operators
and National Support Center Operators), staff for the National Support Center
(CNS), of the Regional Response Centers (CAR), Regional Coordinators and staff
for the Pre- and Post-Event audits.
2. Operation of the National Support Center.
3. Furnishing and operation of the Fast Response Centers.
4. Assembly of the voting machines.
5. Supply and distribution of materials for the assembly of voting machines and
other required materials/equipment.
6. Supply and distribution of batteries as backup power sources.
7. Installation of Contingency Transmission Centers.
8. Printing of manuals and protocols for the field staff.
9. Project management services and application of Smartmatic’s exclusive Project
Methodology.
10. Control and follow-up of performance indicators.
11. Priming and distribution of over 42,897 voting machines for these events:
operator training, voter information sessions, engineering test, voting drill and the
elections.
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5. Scope of the 2012 Regional Elections
CATEGORY NUMBER
Polling Centers 12,784
Regional Electoral Assemblies 24
Voting Machines 36,220
CTC Machines (Contingency Transmission Centers) 711
Contingency Machines 5,966
Technology in Venezuelan elections
Venezuela set the trend in e-voting by becoming the first country in the world to fully
automate an election. Several tools were used to accomplish this during the October 7,
2012 Presidential Elections, including monitoring software, the automatic generation of
voting instruments, and the publication of results; and hardware such as biometric
identification devices for voters, data entry electronic ballots, and voting machines proper.
I. Voting machines (SAES-4000 series)
Latest-generation voting machines with a touch screen, extensions for e-ballots and
compatible with the voter biometric authentication system (SAI).
100% auditable. The vote is registered several times, uses redundant storage.
Votes are encrypted with 256-bit symmetrical algorithms.
Integrated printer for vote vouchers, precinct counts, and voting logs.
“Unblock” button to activate the voting session.
Secure unidirectional data transmission through networks (LAN, phone lines, GSM,
CDMA and satellite).
Accessibility module for visually impaired voters.
External power backup system, functional for up to 8 hours.
Portable protecting case made from ultra resistant materials.
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6. II. Voter biometric identification system
Each voting machine has an accompanying biometric authentication device used to activate
sessions. Every voter must be authenticated through his/her fingerprint in order to unlock
the voting machine.
Color screen to display instructions and voter information, including the voter’s
photograph.
Support area to place the voter’s ID card.
Integrated fingerprint reader to capture the voter’s biometric information.
Keypad with touch and auditory sensitivity.
LED lights to indicate the status of processes.
Buzzer to indicate the start and end of processes.
III. VP-1500 E-ballot
Large, spacious ballot size and internal membranes.
The voter can press upon the party’s logo, the candidate’s name or picture: whole
areas, not small ovals.
LED indicators for a visual confirmation of the voter’s choice(s).
IV. Election Management System (EMS)
Allows the definition and configuration of the election (it is fed with data provided
by the CNE regarding eligible posts, candidates and political parties).
Generates the configuration files for each voting machine being deployed.
Contributes to the generation of reports and legal documents with the results of
the system's performance evaluation.
V. Real-Time Electoral Information System (REIS)
Displays partial results and final election bulletins, supports all categories of
electoral formulas, from the simplest (referenda, for instance) to the most complex
vote aggregation methods to yield final results, including single-winner and
multiple-winner, as well as majority rule and proportional representation methods.
VI. Election Day Management Platform (EDMP)
A software to control the attendance of technicians and operators who have the
mission to deploy the voting machines, supporting real-time monitoring of the
opening, closure, transmission, and audit of the 36,220 polling booths, and also
the support incidents during Election Day.
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7. Technical audits
In Venezuela, as a rule the voting system is audited before, during and after each election.
For the 2012 Regional Election, the electoral authorities organized several evaluations
of the software and hardware of the voting machines, as well as of the transmission
and tallying of the votes. Technical representatives of all political parties participated in
all these audits.
For these Regional Elections, the following stringent tests were completed:
Audit toward the Certification of the Software in the Voting Machines (November 05
to 07)
During this source code audit, it was verified that the software installed in the voting
machines is the correct one; it was also certified that the software registers, tallies
and transmits the votes correctly.
Audit toward the Tallying Software Certification (November 28 to 30)
In this audit, the political organizations checked the counting system, its components,
source code and digital signature.
Audit to the Biometric System (October 29 to November 02)
During this audit, it was verified that there’s no relation between the fingerprint
capture process and the sequence in which votes are registered, enforcing the
constitutional mandate for the secrecy of the vote and the “one man, one vote
principle”. This audit also included the modules that make up the voting system,
and the application’s digital signature was generated.
Audit of the priming of the voting machines (November 10 to December 10)
Representatives of all political parties and CNE technicians verified that the voting
machines were configured with the software code certified in the previous audit.
Audit of the voting infrastructure (December 03 and 04)
This audit checks the technological platform of the voting machines and their
structure. To this end, a voting machine is disassembled in front of representatives
of the political parties, so its components can be observed and it can be ascertained
that they are all indispensable for the voting to take place, meaning there are no
secondary or superfluous elements that might perform tasks unrelated or not
required by the voting process.
Pre-dispatch audit (December 09)
Completely reformulated, this new mock run audit is a replica of the electoral process.
This test was conducted one week before the election with 1,400 voters that used
a group of voting machines selected at random.
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8. Post-voting audit (December 29)
Replay of the closing audit, where the representatives of the political parties verify
the ballot boxes, counting once again the vouchers contained therein. These results
are compared to those produced by the voting machine's tallying software and are
certified by the political parties.
Other audits and tests
Full Regional Election Audits or “Audit for citizen verification” (December 16)
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9. How do Venezuelans vote?
The voting process in its entirety comprises activities of the highest automation level,
including the biometric authentication of the voters, automated voting, tallying, collection
and totalization of results, and the proclamation of the winning candidate.
1. Upon arriving at the
2. Once the voter’s ID
polling center, the voter
number is entered in the SAI,
must provide his ID card
the biographic information
to a polling station member
of the voter appears on
so his personal data is
screen, including a face
searched in the Integrated
picture which enables
Authentication System
visual identification.
(SAI) database.
4. Once the voter’s identity
3. The SAI device then is verified, he proceeds to
reads the voter’s fingerprint, the voting machine. The
which is checked against machine operator presses
the system’s database the activation button and
the voting act proper begins.
5. The voter uses the e-ballot;
he finds the candidates or 6. Once the option has been
political party of his choice. selected, the voter must
The voter makes his selection, verify his choice on the
or select the candidate (s) screen of the voting machine.
of his/her preference.
8. The machine prints a
voting voucher reflecting
7. The voter must confirm
the voter’s choice, which
his choice by pressing
he/she should verify.
“VOTE” on the screen,
Then, he/she must deposit
casting his vote. it into the ballot box to end
the process.
08
10. Noteworthy stories in the Venezuelan media
Venezuela: E-voting used to elect 260 offices | 17.12.2012
For the second time this year, Venezuelan voters exercised their right to elect State
Governors and representatives to Legislative Councils through a sophisticated
electronic e-voting system that enabled electoral authorities to announce the official
results in only 3 hours after the polls closed.
http://www.smartmatic.org/view/article/venezuela-e-voting-used-to-elect-260-offices/
BBC
Hugo Chavez allies win 20 of 23 Venezuela governorships | 17.12.2012
The opposition coalition held on to two key states, including Miranda, where Henrique
Capriles was re-elected. Sunday's poll took place amid uncertainty over the health of
Mr Chavez, who is in Cuba recovering from cancer surgery. Socialist Party leaders
urged voters to turn out in support of the president.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20745262
El Universal:
67% of citizens trust election results | 12.14.2012
"Do you consider that the electoral results are credible?" According to pollster
Datanálisis, 67% of citizens answered ‘yes’ to this question, while only 23% mistrusts
the announcements from the electoral organism. The poll, carried out during the last
week of November with a national sample of 1300 people in their homes, shows that
65.8% of voters trusts Smartmatic voting machines, while 27.6% of those questioned
do not.
http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/121214/67-de-ciudadanos-confian-en-los-resultados
-electorales
Prensa Latina: Logistic deployment for Venezuelan elections underway | 12.11.2012
The Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) is working on last minute details to
ensure the logistical success and efficient execution of the regional elections scheduled
for next Sunday. Five days from the elections, in which 23 governors and 260 depu-
ties of the Regional Legislative Councils will be elected, the 36,220 voting machines
have been already deployed and will be installed for the use of potentially 17,421,946
voters.
http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&idioma=1&id=794841
&Itemid=1
CNE
Voting machines to be used on December 16 were audited by the CNE and the political
parties 12.09.2012
The National Electoral Council carried out the pre-dispatch audit of the voting machines
last Sunday, December 9. Technicians and members of the political parties tested all
the phases of the automated voting process (biometric identification of the voter, use
of the e-ballot equipped with a touch sensitive membrane, the act of voting, tallying,
totaling and transmission of results), with the objective of testing and certifying each
technical element of the regional elections.
http://www.cne.gob.ve/web/sala_prensa/noticia_detallada.php?id=3077
09
11. Últimas Noticias
634 observers will be present in the country | 12.05.2012
634 observers will be distributed all over the country to monitor the December 16
elections. The quota will be filled by 5 organizations qualified to oversee the voting
process. The National Electoral Council announced that the accredited organizations
will be Observatorio Electoral Venezolano, Fundación por un Pueblo Digno, Red de
Observadores Electorales de Venezuela, Red de Observación Electoral de la Asamblea
de Educación and Proyecto Social.
http://epaper.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/impresodigital/xml_epaper/Ultimas_Noticias/05_12_2012/pla_74_Car
acas/xml_arts/art_5132350.xml
Últimas Noticias
CNE readies voting machines without setbacks | 11.29.2012
100% of the voting machines to be used in the December 16 Regional Elections will
be ready next week. In total, the National Electoral Council has designed a platform of
32,220 machines installed in the same number of polling stations, which will be
distributed among 12,784 polling centers. Additionally, the manufacture of an extra
20% is contemplated for contingency purposes.
http://epaper.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/impresodigital/xml_epaper/Ultimas_Noticias/29_11_2012/pla_74_Car
acas/xml_arts/art_5120976.xml
Grupo La Colina Venezuela
Manual voting or E-voting? | 11.28.2012
Voting in Venezuela has been automated since 1998. This was the result of pressure
from the civil society, which resulted in the Organic Law for Voting and Political
Participation being signed in 1997. Article 154 of the law clearly states that “the voting
process, tallying, totaling and adjudication of the winners will be fully automated”.
http://grupolacolina.blogspot.com/2012/11/venezuela-voto-manual-o-voto-electronico.html
El Nacional
Audit of the voting machines’ software begins today | 11.28.2012
The National Electoral Council will perform an audit of the voting machines’ software
between today and Friday. These machines will be used in the December 16 Regional
Elections. This revision, which includes technicians from the political parties, is meant
to validate the operation of the software installed in the voting machines, certifying
that there are no alterations.
http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/Hoy-comienza-auditoria-software-maquinas_0_89393260.html
El Universal
Socorro Hernández: CNE works to motivate a 100% turnout | 11.21.2012
Rector of the National Electoral Council Socorro Hernández denied this Wednesday that
the agency is carrying out actions to demotivate the electorate, as it has been claimed
by the opposition. “The work we do is towards a 100% turnout; we wouldn’t discourage
the voters; that would deny the purpose of our institution. We’d be happy with the
turnout of October 7. We call all voters to participate in the Regional Elections as they
did for the Presidential Elections”, declared Hernández to Unión Radio.
http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/elecciones-2012/121121/socorro-hernandez-cne-trabaja-p
ara-motivar-el-100-de-la-participacion
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12. El Nacional
CNE started assembly of voting machines for December 16 | 11.15.2012
The National Electoral Council began yesterday the priming of voting machines for the
December 16 Regional Elections. The process is taking place in the warehouses of the
Electoral Power in Filas de Mariches, in the presence of representatives of all political
parties. 36,200 machines will be deployed across all the country, with the exception
of the Capital District, where there’ll be no voting.
http://www.el-nacional.com/politica/CNE-inicio-produccion-maquinas-votacion_0_81594302.html
Prensa Latina
Prensa Latina: Electoral referee fine-tunes preparations for Venezuelan elections
| 11.14.2012
Technicians from the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the political parties will
begin an audit of the priming of the voting machines today, as part of the preparations
for the December 16 Regional Elections. When auditing, the representatives will check
the data of the polling station tables (a correlation between the polling centers and its
stations), which specifies how many voters will be specified as the top limit of every
machine at every center.
http://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&idioma=1&id=706331&Item
id=1
Unión Radio
MUD certifies audit to the voting machines’ software | 11.05.2012
The first day of the audit of the voting machines' software ended with a certification
by the technicians of the Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD), a coalition of opposi-
tion parties, who signed an agreement concluding all the revisions to the automated
voting system. This audit checked the source code of the operating system used by
the voting machines to verify that the application performs the following tasks
correctly: selection, voting, adding the votes, totaling and transmitting the results. The
invulnerability of the secrecy of the vote was also verified, certifying that there is no
sequence between the order in which votes are cast and their storage in the voting
machine, ensuring the people’s will is respected.
http://www.unionradio.net/actualidadur/nota/visornota.aspx?id=126808&tpCont=1&idSec=307
Últimas Noticias
December 16: three to six votes per voter| 10.31.2012
Three to six votes will be cast depending on the constituency. This is why the CNE
has taken measures to speed up the process, in the information stations that will be
present in 5,000 polling stations. The agency stated that 12,784 polling stations will
open and will comprise a total of 36,220 polling stations, all of them automated with
the Integrated Authentication System.
http://epaper.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/impresodigital/xml_epaper/Ultimas_Noticias/31_10_2012/pla_74_Car
acas/xml_arts/art_5063577.xml
La Verdad
CNE and political parties will audit voting software for December 16 | 10.30.2012
For the second time this year, the National Electoral Council (CNE) will review the
software installed in the voting machines to be used in the December 16 Regional
Elections. Technicians from the CNE and the political parties have already checked the
software used for the presidential election and are gathering now to retest the
software for the upcoming elections. As it was explained in the previous election, the
software in the machine stores –in groups of five – the votes and ID numbers in
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13. different files, which are randomly stored in a permanent memory. This audit is one of
the most important, since it involves the testing of the operating system of 36,220
machines that will be used on December 16.
http://www.laverdad.com/politica/10781-oev-no-habra-manera-de-que-alguien-distinto-al-elector-sepa-por-
quien-voto.html
Últimas Noticias
CNE to perform 8 audits before Regional Elections | 10.29.2012
The National Electoral Council (CNE) will start a series of audits today, with the
purpose of validating the transparency of the upcoming Regional Elections on Decem-
ber 16. According to the schedule, revisions of the biometric system and the voting
machines are to follow shortly.
http://epaper.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/impresodigital/xml_epaper/Ultimas_Noticias/29_10_2012/pla_74_Car
acas/xml_arts/art_5059029.xml
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14. What are people saying about the Venezuelan voting system?
Citizen perception
A survey by Venezuelan pollster Datanálisis (2010 and 2012) reveals that:
A full 95.1% of Venezuelan voters think that voting with Smartmatic machines is
“easy” or “very easy”.
75% prefers e-voting over manual voting.
Seven out of ten consider that Venezuela’s voting technology is among the most
advanced in the world.
68% regard electoral results in Venezuela as reliable.
87% affirm to have voted using Smartmatic machines.
Support of the voting system
2012 has been, without a doubt, an election year of the biggest importance in Venezuela.
Presidential Elections were held on October 7, an election with historic voter turnout: over
80% of the population in the electoral roster went to the polls. The automated voting
system was recognized by representatives of the public powers, directors of international
NGO’s such as Unasur’s International Accompaniment Mission, and the Carter Center,
whose founder and director, Jimmy Carter, stated that Venezuela has the best voting
system in the world. “After having monitored 92 elections, I can say that Venezuela
has the best voting system in the world, since it facilitates the verification of results. It
allows the e-voting process and provides the backup of printed voting vouchers”, he
declared.
“After having monitored 92 elections, I can say that Venezuela has the best voting
system in the world, since it makes verifying the electoral results easier. It allows
electronic voting and offers a physical, printed backup of the votes”. | Jimmy Carter,
former President of the Untied States, leader and founder of the Carter Center | 09.19.2012
“What we’ve verified is that Venezuela has one of the technologically strongest, most
advanced, reliable and credible voting systems in Latin America. I think electronic
voting is more reliable, quicker, more user friendly and auditable than the manual
procedure”. | Carlos Álvarez, Chief of the international observation mission of the Union of South
American Nations (Unasur) | 10.05.2012
“The Venezuelan voting system has a high technical level that surpasses the European
one”. | Antonio Hodgers. Member of the Swiss Parliament. | 10.09.2012
“The results that were transmitted are truthful; they’re not the ones we expected, but
those are the results… We have 90% of the precinct counts, all catalogued, scanned
and uploaded into a public system for the citizens to check”. | Leopoldo López,
Coordinator of Electoral Witnesses of the Comando Venezuela, Mesa de la Unidad Democrática
(Venezuelan coalition of opposition parties). 10.10.2012.
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15. Electronic voting preserves the will of the voter, from the time he casts his vote to the
result in the tallying report, as long as the system is implemented with high-security
data techniques and properly audited software… Besides, the definitive official results
of any elections can be broadcast to the public in only a few hours. | Mario Torre.
Coordinator of the auditing team. Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (Venezuelan coalition of
opposition parties). 11.28.2012
Precisely, the Carter Center remarked in their report about the past Presidential
Elections that “the Venezuelan voting system is one of the most automated in the
world”, and highlighted the security offered by the voting machines, which had “the
validation of technicians from the political parties, who took part in audits of the
platform, and have been witnesses to wins and losses in the past 5 national elections”.
To read more about the report, click on the following link:
http://www.cartercenter.org/news/pr/venezuela-111512.html#spanish
The Venezuelan automated voting system was also recognized by the Chief of the
Mission of Electoral Observers of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur),
Carlos Álvarez, who praised it and congratulated the Venezuelan people, who gave
“a stunning demonstration of voting and commitment to democracy” during the
Presidential Elections. For more information, watch the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUVdk8JU1RU.
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