Coahuila e-voting budget now US$84,000

Mexico's Coahuila state now expects to spend US$84,000 on its e-voting program, rather than the US$48,000 previously reported, according to the latest information from Homero Ramos, president of the state's electoral board (IEPC). Quoted in national newspaper El Universal, Ramos said the 42 voting terminals will cost US$2,000 each, whereas previous reports indicated a price tag of US$1,200 each. Coahuila launched its 2005 election campaign on March 15, and the whole process, expected to cost some 100mn pesos (US$8.9mn), culminates with the vote on September 25. E-voting will help create greater transparency, as well as savings on paper and staff, and should put an end to the state's current 52% abstention rate, Ramos said. The system will eliminate 85% of the problems that have led to challenges of election results at the national level, he added. Coahuila's election will be the first time electronic terminals have been used in a constitutional election in Mexico. The system will be implemented in the more populated sectors of the state's four largest municipalities (where there are more than 20,000 voters). The voting booths operate much like a cash dispenser, with a card containing an access code, which will be handed to voters when they present their ID cards. Voters need only touch the candidate's name or photo on the screen and upon voting, they will receive a receipt that is to be deposited in a traditional voting box. Some 3,997 candidates will battle for 571 positions. Electronic voting was used successfully in Federal District elections in 2003 with machines borrowed from the Brazilian government. It has also been used for university faculty elections in Guadalajara, Campeche, Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Distrito Federal, Veracruz, Tabasco, Chihuahua, Sonora and Coahuilan as well as in internal elections for the Partido Acción Nacional party in Nuevo León state. The first Mexican-made electronic voting booths could be built for use in the 2006 national elections depending on whether an electoral reform package gets through congress. In April last year Mexico's federal government said it had ditched plans to allow some 10 million Mexicans living abroad to use online voting in the 2006 elections because of security fears.