The Araucanía consultation asked its citizens about an eventual extension of the state of emergency. The process, done by EVoting’s electronic platform, was the first of its kind in the region, convened the 32 communes and ended with 145.000 votes.
The Araucanía governor, Luciano Rivas, appreciated the instance positively: “I think we were capable of reaching a large number of people; for me, it reflects the citizen’s need to use these kinds of tools”.
What is your evaluation of this first citizen consultation in Araucanía?
I am convinced that nowadays we have to promote different tools -like this kind of citizen consultations- for reaching a larger quantity of people. Personally I believe that this consultation was very positive, we managed to reach the 32 communes of Araucanía, we achieved a very relevant participation, compared even with traditional election processes, like the election of regional governors, which also indicates an important representativeness.
What value do you give to having conducted this consultation through electronic voting?
When we talk about modern democracy and active citizen participation, in these times we live in today, I think these are the tools we have to use. I think we must use them frequently in citizen consultations, with a society that each day wants to be more participative, but also understanding that we have to get there differently. It is no longer the traditional voting we used to have, with paper ballots, otherwise we have to facilitate the access so everyone can vote.
What struck you the most about the process?
The way to keep the data encrypted, that was interesting; how they validated the keys for the voting, which we had to give back so that results could be obtained. I think they are milestones that are important to have to give credibility and transparency to the process.
How was the experience with the platform?
I like the platform, it is easy to access and I think that being validated first by Servel and then the vote taking place, have made people appreciate it. In general, I believe the process was good.