Sara Baccaglio, Head of Information Technology at the University of Costa Rica highlighted the incursion of electronic voting with EVoting in 4 electoral processes.
In order to choose the platform to be used in its first experience with institutional electronic voting, the prestigious University of Costa Rica (UCR), carried out an exhaustive review process of different options, both in the national and international market, with the support of experts in computer security of the campus. “There were 5 or 6 platforms and EVoting was the one that obtained the best qualification in technical aspects”, says Sara Baccaglio, Head of Information Technology of the UCR and member of the University Electoral Tribunal.
She adds that different security tests were carried out on the system and were considered satisfactory, and stresses that, on the part of EVoting’s technical team, “the attention was very special and the little things and findings were corrected immediately to provide a high-level service for the University. They were always there for us and with high quality service”.
What is your opinion on security and transparency in an electronic ballot?
I think that through the encryption mechanisms EVoting offers, but also by giving people access to logs and with the legal safeguards behind the procedures that are used, the risk is minimized. The risk of vulnerability is minimized through the technological mechanisms and the procedures and algorithms implemented in the system. This guarantees in some way this transparency and also the access to this information to the people.
What was the university community’s perception of this experience?
In general, the comments were positive. The abstention rate in one election in particular, which was the administrative election, was much lower than in previous years. People approached the tribunal saying “how come we haven’t done this before?” It’s a very simple process actually, so people were also surprised at the ease of use of the system.
And what struck you the most?
The ease that people can have when exercising their right to vote. Even people who do not have much experience in the use of technological tools were able to easily make their choices and translate their will into a vote. In general and with regards to the system, I was struck with the ease of use and also the way to ensure the secrecy of those votes, which is through the use of cryptographic keys.
Do you think that the use of this modality of elections is something that depends on the pandemic or is it here to stay?
It is the way we are going, definitely the pandemic made that boost, it gave us that push to take that first step to use these tools for voting, but I think it is definitely something that is here to stay. The most important thing that the University Electoral Tribunal has taken into account is the security and transparency of the process, guaranteeing people that their vote is taken into account, that it is valid.
Check out the video interview by clicking on EVoting’s Youtube Channel.