In the wake of one of the closest and most important elections in
Venezuelan history, Smartmatic today announced that its voting
solution, the Smartmatic Automated Election System (SAES), performed
with complete reliability and accuracy. During the referendum, the
SAES machines transmitted accurately, rapidly and reliably, and after
the polls closed, the Venezuelan Electoral Council and representatives
of the different political parties successfully audited 54% of the
voting machines.
"In one of the most critical and closest elections in our history,
Venezuelans have peacefully accepted a razor thin margin of victory,
and at Smartmatic, we believe this consensus would have been
impossible without our trusted voting solution," said Antonio Mugica,
Chief Executive Officer, Smartmatic.
In the extremely close Referendum, voters rejected 69 amendments
to the Venezuelan Constitution by a margin of less than 1.5%. Key
electoral statistics include:
-- Automated voting centers: 10,547 (95.8%)
-- Voting machines used: 32,939
-- Registered Voters: 16,049,654
-- Time to Cast Vote: Less than 30 seconds
Used in Venezuela since 2004, Smartmatic´s SAES electronic voting
technology is the most secure, accurate and reliable system in the
world. The SAES system randomly stores and encrypts votes in seven
different places, guaranteeing 100% security and auditability of the
voting process. In addition, all Smartmatic voting systems are
equipped with a voter verified paper trail (VVPT) printed on
security-enhanced paper as soon as each vote is cast. This ballot
"receipt" shows the vote the machine has just recorded and allows the
voter to verify that their vote was recorded correctly. It also serves
as a physical backup in the event of an audit.
"In light of the Referendum´s results, it is time for the cloud
over Venezuelan democracy to lift and for the world to recognize once
and for all that our elections meet the highest standards of fairness,
accuracy and transparency," added Antonio Mugica.
About Smartmatic (www.smartmatic.com)
Smartmatic is a multinational company specializing in the design
and deployment of high-security and high-connectivity solutions. Its
automated voting products are the most secure, reliable and auditable
voting systems in the world.
Smartmatic is the world leader in auditable election technology,
and has successfully collected and tabulated more than 50 million
auditable votes in multiple elections. Smartmatic has sold and
deployed its automated election systems in Venezuela, Netherlands
Antilles, in the US, through Sequoia Voting Systems, and it is
currently in the process of launching a number of election projects in
Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe.
Smartmatic has offices in the US, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela,
Barbados, Philippines and Taiwan.
