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Russian electronic voting equipment perfect at elections in Ecuador

Russia also delivered its voting equipment to Argentina and Venezuela

© EPA/JOSE JACOME

BOGOTA, February 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian voting equipment proved to be reliable at municipal election in the South American country of Ecuador, Russian Ambassador in Ecuador Yan Burliay told Itar-Tass by phone on Tuesday.

Moscow provided to Quito two sets of electronic voting equipment, which were installed at a polling station in Quito’s district La Morita. Meanwhile, Russia delivered its voting equipment to Argentina and Venezuela. Ecuadorian authorities are testing different types of equipment to evaluate their advantages and shortcomings and to buy equipment they liked to refurbish their voting system.

“It can be said for sure that our technology is more reliable than others, as 10% of ballot papers were found invalid at the polling stations, where Argentinean equipment was used, but no ballot papers were found void at the polling station La Morita,” Burliay said.

“Our voting equipment turned out to be most reliable and simple in use,” the ambassador noted. “Argentinean voting equipment has a ballot paper with a chip,” he noted. “First of all, this is expensive, as, according to unofficial estimates, each ballot paper costs around ten dollars, secondly, this is too complicated and, thirdly, this is unreliable,” he added. “Photos of candidates pop up in our equipment, and even an illiterate voter can vote immediately,” Burliay said, noting that “the Ecuadorians learnt to handle Russian equipment immediately, but it was more difficult with that of Argentine.”

Chairman of Russian Central Elections Commission Vladimir Churov visited Ecuador on February 20-24, holding talks with Ecuadorian counterpart Domingo Paredes and heads of the central elections commissions in Argentine, the Dominican Republic and Peru. “Thanks to this visit we have laid good foundations for cooperation between Russia and Latin American countries in the sphere of elections,” Burliay added.

Russia and Ecuador continue developing cooperation in the sphere of elections, as Churov has already visited Quito in December 2013 and Paredes visited Moscow on common election day in September 2013.

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