#Bolivianelections2020 The Voting Process
Bolivia Today ©
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| Own elaboration |
In many ways, the voting process in this general elections in Bolivia is a matter of routine, after more than 30 years of experience living in democracy Bolivian voters know the process very well. They will have to go to vote, check their identity, get their ballot, mark a box and drop their ballot in the box. Yet, the voting process will still be different this particular year, mainly due to two things. First of all, it will be different because of last year's electoral fraud. People are bound to have deep distrust on the very process. Second of all, the pandemic has forced the authorities to add several layers to the voting process to prevent the spread of the virus.
This post aims at explaining (or documenting) the process based on the information available online at the electoral tribunal's website (TSE) and through the media.
Measures against the virus (Spanish medidas de bioseguridad)
Every person, voter or electoral official, will have to wear a face mask. Officials will also have glasses.
Everyone will have to observe the mandatory distance of 1.5 meters (some 5 feet).
At the time of voting, every voter will have to disinfect their hands with disinfectant gel. Officials will also do the same. In the case a voter has to borrow a pen (to vote), it will have to be disinfected.
Every voter will have to be careful not to touch the material on the table as well as show their documentation themselves to the officials.
One the ballot is deposited in the box, without touching the box, the voter will take a q-tip, soak it in ink and rub it against the fingerprint to then sign and leave a fingerprint on the document, certifying he voted.
How the vote will happen
Polling places will be opened at 8 am and will close after all voters in the list have cast their ballots or is 5 pm.
Each voter is asked to bring his own pen and id documentation.
Voters are divided into two groups according to the last digit in their ids. Voters with id numbers ending in 0 to 4 will be able to vote from 8 to 12.30 am, and voters whose id numbers end in 5 to 9 will be able to vote from 12.30 to 5 pm. No person will be prevented to vote.
Each room will have a separate entrance and exit. In the case there is only one door, this will be separated by a separator.
Voters only will be allowed in the room. In the case there is a line, each person will have to keep 1.5 m distance.
As the voter approaches the table, he will be handed disinfectant for his hands. He will have to show the secretary (official) his id, so that she can verify it against the official voter list. She verifies he is allowed to vote in that table.
The voter will sign that list and will paint his finger with ink to then proceed to leave his fingerprint on the same document.
The table president (official) will then show him his empty ballot and will place it on the table. The voter picks up his ballot and heads to the booth to make his mark.
After marking one box for president and vp and another for a local district representative, the voter folds his ballot and deposits it in the ballot box.
The table president (official) gives him his signed and stamped voting certificate.
The voter will then be escorted by police or aids to leave the room.
The counting of votes
The votes are publicly counted, once every one in the list has voted. People allowed to present are, electoral officials, who will do the actual counting, political organization's delegates, observers, members of the media and the general public. Every one present will have to keep 1.5 ms of distance from one another.
The table president (official) will read out loud each ballot.
Officials will fill the official tally sheet, which in Bolivia is a legal document called Acta de Escrutinio y Conteo (Record of Count). Copies will be made. These will be signed, stamped, marked with an invisible security tape, and place on the table.
The notary will take a picture of the sheet. After that, every delegate and who ever wants will be able to take a picture of it.
The Copies will be given to the table president, a notary, and one for each political organization delegate (party delegate).
The notary, in charge of transportation, will then take the results enclosed in an envelope to the departmental offices, where the TSE employees will receive, scan and transcribe the data into the data system.
Security measures for the tally sheets
Each tally sheet (Spanish Acta), has three security features, much like paper money. There is a QR code, and a bar code identifying each sheet. In addition, officials will add a transparent adhesive tape. The QR code points through a special app (for officials only) to a database and other online applications. The bar code is a numeric code to identify the sheet. Finally, the transparent tape will be placed over the final results and the observations area to prevent any alteration possible.
In addition, each tally sheet is printed with three security features. There is an invisible code, only visible with special light or laser. Another feature is a complex pattern printed in a deeper layer. The last feature is microtext, which from some distance looks like a line.
Apparently, some of these features were suggested by the OAS and approved by the EU and UN. These are three international actors following the process very closely.
For those of you who understand Spanish, the TSE's youtube channel has some videos explaining the process for the general public.
The following video explains the security measures throughout the process.
This one explains the measures against the virus.
This one explains the roll of the party delegates, who are supposed to observe and take part in the process. They can ultimately submit a complaint.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc-ki39I3dQHt6rOsLB5lng
https://ibce.org.bo//principales-noticias-bolivia/noticias-nacionales-detalle.php?id=115845&idPeriodico=34&fecha=2020-10-13
https://boliviaverifica.bo/medidas-de-bioseguridad-para-cuidar-la-salud-de-los-votantes-en-las-urnas/
