Lt. Governor cannot decide
on vote, says Commissioner
WILLEMSTAD--No final decision has been made yet on the use of the existing voting machines in the elections of April 20 in Curaçao, said Commissioner Elfried Capella of General Affairs (FOL). He said that Lt. Governor Lisa Richards-Dindial as president of the main Voting Bureau was too quick to say that the voting machines would be used again and without printers.
Capella emphasized that it is up to the entire Executive Council to decide what to use in the upcoming elections.
“The Lt. Governor cannot decide this on her own. It’s true that the elections are her responsibility, but these decisions are made within the collective governing system. The Executive Council decides on this and the Lt. Governor has just one vote.”
Capella said that before a decision is made on the use of the voting machines all the advices have to be in. One is already in, that of General and Judicial Affairs AJZ; they indicate that considering the proposal to use printers is worthwhile, because the voting machines do not provide the transparency of paper ballots.
According to AJZ, it is up to the Executive Council to decide. “You need to take into consideration that the elections for the Island Council are already on April 20. AJZ has no idea of how long it would take to implement the proposal. Also the financial aspect of this proposal must be studied.”
Capella added that they are currently waiting for the final advice of the Finance Department and the Civil Registry.
During a Central Committee meeting all factions in the Island Council supported the idea of having a printer connected to the voting machines. The Lt. Governor said they had received an offer for machines with that option, but it would cost money.
Capella said there was also an option to lease rather than buy them, which he preferred. The Lt. Governor said it would in any case mean adding at least 500,000 guilders to the election budget.
Before the meeting, MSL-councilman and chairman of the Central Committee César Prince had already said the thought within the coalition was to either use voting machines with a printer or go back to the paper and pencil system.
He didn’t think the island should use machines without the possibility of a print-out. According to him, what was important was the reliability of the voting process.
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