Far from materializing in nationwide elections as they were recently successfully held in Brazil, with almost ten times more people than in the last presidential elections in Argentina, some provinces decided to advance in the implementation of electronic voting in the local elections of 2011. Given the certain impossibility that the next presidential elections will be carried out with an automated system with computers (the issue was ejected from the Political Reform of December 2009), the Government of Salta and tierra del Fuego are betting on launching next year the "e-vote" at the local level.
The governor of Salta, Juan Manuel Urtubey, will sign today the decree of convocation to elect his successor at the head of the Executive, also senators, provincial deputies, mayors and councilors, for April 10, 2011.
The date set is a little more than six months away from the national elections, which are scheduled for October 23, but in order not to give rise to other interpretations of political dye, the president will base his decision on the validity of the political reform in the province, which advanced in the implementation of electronic voting, circumstance that forces to unfold the vote of the national calendar. On the other hand, the open, simultaneous and mandatory internal elections will be set for January 30 since the rule establishes that there must be at least 70 days between that vote and the general election.
Although the province is one of the few that aimed to consolidate a computer system that will serve to speed up the subsequent counting of votes, only 33% of Salta will use electronic ballot boxes.
Meanwhile, in Tierra del Fuego, Governor Fabiana Ríos also wants to implement the "e-vote" for next year's local elections in at least two of the largest and most populated municipalities in the province: Rio Grande and Ushuaia. The ratification of the Legislature is still lacking, and in fact there is talk of a strong resistance of Fuegian Peronism that would not be willing to abandon the "vote-paper", however, the possibility of the parties reaching an agreement in favor of the pretensions of the former edge, which in the coming days will announce its intention to seek a new mandate, is breathed with enthusiasm.
The election of Fuegian authorities would be on June 17, since the provincial Constitution indicates that they must be held four months before the national elections.
Among the districts that have already confirmed for their local elections dates split from the presidential election, Catamarca marked March 13 and Chubut announced that they will be on the 20th of that month.
And, in the set of those that have already tried to implement electronic voting, Córdoba and Buenos Aires have had good experiences although not yet enough to extend them to a general suffrage. After the Buenos Aires town of Pinamar became in March the first in the country to use the system, the Cordoban city of Marcos Juárez premiered it in September in the local elections of mayor, councilors and tribunes of accounts.
Source: Ambito
