Is e-voting currently used in any elections with EMB participation?
Panama
- Yes, in politically-binding national elections (elections for public office or direct democracy initiatives)
- Yes, in other elections with EMB participation (e.g. election of trade union leaders, non-binding referendums)
The Decree 11 of May 24, 2013 (“Decreto 11 de 24 de mayo de 2013, por el cual se reglamentan las Elecciones Generales del 24 de mayo de 2014”), stated the Electoral Tribunal would choose one polling centre—within the Panama district—with no more than 20 polling tables, where only e-voting would be used (which had been used previously at the elections of local indigenous authorities in 2011 and in the partial election of the district of El Bebedero.
Decreto 7 del 18 de Marzo de 2014. Este Decreto reglamenta el ejercicio del Voto Electr?nico para el evento.
“Artículo 1. Sistema de votaci?n electr?nica. Para las Elecciones Generales del 4 de mayo de 2014, se utilizar? 'el sistema de votaci?n electr?nica del TE' en el colegio, Jos? Antonio Rem?n Cantera, centro de votaci?n ubicado en el corregimiento de San Francisco, distrito y provincia de Panam?, con un padr?n electoral de 4,859 electores distribuidos en 10 mesas de votaci?n.”
E-voting took place at the 10 polling tables of the “Jos? A. Rem?n Cantera” polling centre. It was used for voting in the 4 elections of that day—president, congress representative, major and local representative. It was a binding test, and no traditional voting means were available.
Also, e-voting has been used in a couple of processes, like the PRD primaries in 2012 and the election of steering board of the National Association of Lawyers.
Finally, some voters residing in foreign countries were also allowed voting using the internet.
