US embassy cable - 04QUITO2500

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 QUITO 002500 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM, PGOV, PREL, PHUM, EC 
SUBJECT: FIGHTING ELECTORAL FRAUD, MISCOUNTS WITH TECHNOLOGY 
 
REF: QUITO 2449 
 
1.  SUMMARY:  Ecuador's byzantine electoral process demands 
newspaper-sized ballots, seven-hour counts, and spawns 
unacceptable numbers of nullified votes.  Worse, its 
complexity raises the possibility of electoral fraud. 
Ecuador's supreme electoral authority sees a partial solution 
in increased use of automation, however.  The Supreme 
Electoral Tribunal (TSE) this year inked an agreement with 
its Brazilian counterpart and the OAS to utilize computerized 
voting stations in 271 precincts in five provinces.  TSE 
experts predict accurate results from the pilot system one 
hour after polls close.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  Ecuadorians go to the polls October 17 to elect prefects, 
mayors, and provincial/municipal councils.  The national 
electoral system mixes presidential and parliamentary 
elements; voters select one candidate for prefectural and 
mayoral races, but cast as many votes for council members as 
there are open seats (voting for a party list, or splitting 
votes among several parties).  At the close of the 
registration period, the TSE announced that some 150 
organizations would field candidates in October.  Taken 
together, in populous provinces like Pichincha and Guayas, 
ballots can look more like racing forms, producing headaches 
for vote counters and observers alike and making fraud more 
difficult to detect. 
 
3.  The TSE's track record modernizing Ecuador's electoral 
system is solid.  In 2000, it initiated a telephone-based 
quick count system, used to good effect in 2002 as well. 
Initial results for that presidential election arrived in 
Quito just 90 minutes after polls closed.  The system is 
limited, however, in that it still depends on manual ballot 
counts, precluding its use in complex, multi-seat 
congressional and council races.  It is also costly; TSE 
Technical Advisor Axel Villa told Poloff September 9 the TSE 
would pay a Spanish contractor $3 million for quick-count 
services. 
 
4.  Existing vote tabulation technology allowed accurate, 
quick results reporting, Villa claimed.  The TSE was 
committed to automating the vote 100 percent by 2012.  To 
that end, it had entered into an agreement with the OAS and 
Brazilian electoral authorities to use the latter's 
technology in a pilot program this October.  At 271 of 
Ecuador's 34,000 precincts, in Guayas, Pichincha, Manabi, 
Imbabura, and Azuay provinces, citizens would cast ballots at 
PC-based workstations.  Tabulation would occur automatically, 
once the precinct captain executed a few simple computer 
commands.  He then had only to transmit results to the TSE in 
Quito via a simple modem uplink. 
 
5.  Villa demonstrated the system's workings to Poloff. 
Party symbols, colors, and assigned numbers would aid 
illiterate and semi-literate Ecuadorians, especially 
important in heavily indigenous areas.  In response to 
remarks that the process was user-friendly but still complex, 
the TSE technician claimed all voters in pilot precincts must 
undergo a two-hour training course before accessing the 
machines. 
 
6.  Brazilian Commercial Attache Alfonso Netti September 8 
provided additional detail on the TSE/OAS/Brazil agreement. 
Brasilia earlier had provided electoral assistance to 
Paraguay; that impoverished country now features 
state-of-the-art vote tabulators at nearly half its 
precincts.  Under the Ecuador accord, Brazil had loaned the 
TSE nearly 800 machines.  A majority would not see duty 
 
SIPDIS 
election day, but rather appear in shopping malls and 
universities in the run-up, raising electoral and system 
awareness.  Brazilian experts had trained TSE trainers in 
April and technicians stood ready to assist throughout the 
campaign.  Should the pilot prove successful, Netti noted 
that the Brazilian manufacturer (a subsidiary of U.S.-based 
Diebold, Villa later revealed) would seek to sell Ecuador 
machines and service contracts. 
 
7.  Media have reported the pilot program favorably, in part 
due to a proactive TSE publicity campaign.  Tribunal 
authorities traveled to each province for kickoff events to 
raise awareness.  In addition, TSE President Nicanor Moscoso 
has trumpeted the system as an integral component in the 
fight against fraud.  He is lobbying party officials to make 
similar pronouncements. 
 
8.  COMMENT:  Embassy officers fanned out nationwide to 
witness Ecuador's 2002 presidential and congressional 
elections.  Each was impressed by the perseverance of poll 
workers, many tabulating results well past midnight, in cold 
and by candlelight.  Observers were mortified, however, by 
the ballots' complexity and the null votes it produced.  The 
TSE pilot program thus appears both necessary and long 
 
SIPDIS 
overdue.  Choosing proven technology too seems prudent - 
Netti explained that 120 million voters would utilize similar 
machines in Brazil's own October elections.  But we're 
somewhat skeptical the TSE can train the pilot's 63,000 
voters, many uneducated, to use its systems.  And poor 
communications in Ecuador's rural regions might stymie the 
TSE in its goal of 100 percent automation by 2012.  END 
 
SIPDIS 
COMMENT. 
KENNEY