Smartmatic confirms providing special markers for marking ballot choices to election administration
Photo: CEC
The Central Election Commision on Saturday presented to the public a letter from the multinational Smartmatic group, that builds and implements electronic voting systems, in which the company confirmed that the marker shown by politicians and claimed to have been changed by the Central Election Commision was, in fact, received by the election administration directly from the group.
“We hereby confirm that the marking pen shown in the picture below was delivered by Smartmatic as part of the scope of the contract for the October Elections, and in compliance with the requirement of black and quick drying ink. These markers were part of the consumables included in the kits assembled for election purposes during the election configuration process where Smartmatic provided on-site support”, the letter said.
The election administration consistently clarified that the special markers used to mark choices on the ballot were supplied by Smartmatic.
“This is confirmed by the contract signed with the company, including the receipt and handover documents for the markers, which are public and available on the state procurement electronic system. Despite this, some politicians continue to falsely assure the public that the Central Election Commision has changed the markers, a blatant lie intended to mislead the public”, the election administration said.
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