Roberto Rosario Marquez, left, of the Dominican Republic's Junta Central Electoral, shakes hands with Maria Eugenia Villagran de Leon, head of Guatemala's Tribunal Supremo Electoral, while Eddy de Jesus Olivares Ortega of the Domincan JCE looks on. Libna Bonilla/IFES
As Guatemala prepares for national elections in September, it won’t be just local election officials working to guarantee fairness and accuracy in the vote.
On July 8, Guatemala’s Tribunal Supremo Electoral (Supreme Electoral Tribunal, TSE) signed an agreement with the Dominican Republic’s Junta Central Electoral (Central Electoral Board, JCE) that will bring Dominican equipment and expertise to the vote count. IFES helped facilitate the agreement, which is a unique example of “south to south” collaboration in elections.
Under the agreement, the Dominican Republic will loan Guatemala 1,500 scanners to transmit election results electronically from polling stations across the country to the TSE. The TSE will receive digital images of the results sheets — or actas — from each polling station and will post them to its official elections website.
Electronic transmission of election results is nothing new for Guatemala, said IFES Regional Director for the Americas Nhelly Saleh-Ramirez. Like many countries in the region, Guatemala already tabulates and releases results from across the country within hours after the polling stations close. But allowing citizens to view the actas from each precinct online, complete with the signatures of station officials and political party observers, is a significant advance.
“It’s a completely new step for Guatemala, and it will strengthen the process by giving it more transparency,” she said.
In addition to the scanners, the TSE has received training and assistance from two Dominican IT engineers to adapt the scanning technology to Guatemala’s elections system. IFES conducted an initial assessment of the Dominican technology to ensure it would be appropriate for Guatemala and has assisted in adapting the software applications. IFES also has arranged travel to Guatemala for the Dominican engineers.
Saleh-Ramirez said the agreement between the Guatemalan and Dominican election management bodies (EMBs) represents the type of regional cooperation encouraged by the United States Agency for International Development, which sponsors several IFES projects in Latin America. IFES will continue to seek opportunities to encourage cross-country partnerships that will endure even without foreign aid.
“IFES is working throughout the region to see where we can find synergies among the EMBs,” she said.