The president of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities this Friday expressed fears that “there could be some kind of ‘glitch’” of the computer system when the voting tables open on Sunday, after glitches were recorded during the dress rehearsal.
Speaking to Lusa, the organization’s president, Luisa Salgueiro, said that during last weekend’s simulation, “there were places where it was impossible to establish network contact”, such as in Matosinhos, the municipality she leads.
“The Internet is its own and exclusive network created by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Therefore, we do not connect to the Internet, which is usually used at polling station locations and during the simulated test, several locations were unable to access the network,” he noted.
“There is a fear that next Sunday, when everyone connects at six in the morning, there will be a technical impossibility of connecting computers and connecting to the network. This is a big fear,” he emphasized.
Luisa Salgueiro recalled that this week there was a meeting of the ANMP board of directors, in which several municipalities “reported situations in which the network did not work” during the dress rehearsal.
Mayor Matosinhos also said that all computers were delivered on time by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of the Interior and that the government ensures that “there are technicians for all desks.”
“Let MAI and SGMAI put in their last efforts to ensure everything goes well on Sunday. As for the municipalities, we have all the teams ready and everything is ready to ensure that the process proceeds in the best possible way,” he said.
On May 15, the Ministry of Internal Affairs already guaranteed the availability of a sufficient number of IT specialists to ensure mobile voting in the European elections.
According to the MAI, there were 19,132 applications for IT support technician positions for the 12,100 jobs expected to be created in Portugal.
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 was maintained with pre-registration taking place the previous week, 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
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