The Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) this Wednesday guaranteed that there are enough IT specialists to support mobile voting in the European elections, despite the fact that there are still 218 people left to support the 23 municipalities.
“Among the voluntary registrations carried out on the three available platforms, as well as the direct recruitment carried out by some municipalities, we believe that there is a sufficient number of registrations to meet the needs identified for each municipality,” reads the MAI response sent to Luz to the question of whether existing IT specialists are sufficient to support mobile voting in the European elections.
MAI states that there is a shortage of 218 IT support technicians in 23 municipalities, noting that “many of these needs are being met through direct recruitment by some of these municipalities.”
In this sense, the ministry guarantees that the number of missing technicians will be “significantly less than stated.”
“At the moment, the Electoral Administration of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of the Interior is coordinating with the municipalities the availability of local recruitment and the number of missing information support technicians in each municipality,” he states.
According to the MAI, of the 12,100 jobs expected to be created in Portugal, there were 19,132 applications for IT support technician positions.
“Given the number of registrations and ongoing training events, we believe that the number of IT support specialists will be sufficient,” MAI assures, noting that in the autonomous okrugs the number of registrations “far exceeded the number of identified needs” in each municipality, and for the next week Several training events are already planned.”
The MAI also states that “a contingency plan is being developed so that in the event of periodic unavailability of the system or difficulties with access to dematerialized voter lists from polling stations, the work of the table would be ensured through telephone access to an automated service system or through an operator.”
Portuguese voters will be able to vote on the day of the European Parliament elections, June 9, anywhere in the country, as well as the day before if they are abroad, with the big innovation being the so-called mobility vote. of this electoral law, according to the National Electoral Commission (CNE).
Citizens do not need to inform in advance or register to vote outside their regular polling place, meaning they only need to show up at the polling station.
According to CNE, this voting is possible thanks to the dematerialization of voter lists, which makes it possible to report online that a voter has voted in a very fast and secure process, eliminating the risk of data theft.
In connection with this change, it became necessary to hire a computer technician to be present at the polling stations at each of the polling stations and stations, duly accredited by the Election Administration, to provide support in the use of computer equipment in the event of occasional system unavailability or difficulties in accessing polling stations.
According to the CNE, this type of voting is only possible in elections in one constituency, as is the case in European and presidential elections.
As in previous elections, early voting continues with pre-registration taking place the week before on June 2. However, if a registered voter does not vote on that day, he or she may do so on the 9th.
Elections to the European Parliament, in which voters in 27 member states elect 720 members of parliament, will take place from June 6 to 9. In Portugal, voting is scheduled for the 9th to select 21 national representatives in the European hemicycle.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Sandra Hansen, a news website Author and Reporter for 24 News Reporters. I have over 7 years of experience in the journalism field, with an extensive background in politics and political science. My passion is to tell stories that are important to people around the globe and to engage readers with compelling content.