Brazilian E-Vote Techie Jailed in Ecuador

Ecuador: Electronic vote-count company rep held:

A Judge in the Guayas province ordered the detention of the representative in Ecuador of the Brazilian E-vote company, Santiago Murray, as part of an investigation into responsibilities for the failure of the computerised system for counting votes in last Sunday’s presidential and legislative elections.

In that election, expectations for a first-round victory by the left-of-center candidate, as predicted by polling organizations, were dashed, and a runoff is scheduled for later this month between Noboa and Correa.

A hand recount is still underway.

Mr. Murray was an OAS election observer in Colombia’s last elections. E-Vote was hired to process and publish election results in the 2002 Brazilian general elections, and these elections as well, as I think I read.
For the moment, the arrest order is “for 24 hours to consent further investigation”.

Later in the day the Judge will however decide whether to confirm the detention or release Murray, who yesterday was accused also by executives of E-vote Brazil.

The Ecuadorian magistrature already proceeded in sequestering material in the E-vote offices and withdrawing the passport of the company representative in Ecuador.

On Monday the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) rescinded the contract with E-Vote and demanded a refund of the down-payment ($2.6-million, half of the total) agreed for the computerised quick count of ballots.

Meanwhile, the manual count has reached 94,36 percent, confirming a runoff between the two main candidates, the conservative billionaire Alvaro Noboa (25.31 percent of votes) and the progressivist Rafael Correa (22.89 percent).

Terrra has more, reporting that the man is suspected by the prosecutor of tampering with election results during the electronic “quick count” last Sunday.

Um juiz equatoriano ordenou hoje a apreensão dos bens da empresa brasileira E-vote e proibiu a saída do Equador de seu representante no país, Santiago Murray, devido às denúncias de um suposto crime de informática no fracassado processo de apuração rápida dos votos nas eleições gerais de domingo.

O juiz Jaime Santos disse a jornalistas que ordenou a apreensão dos bens da firma, especialmente seus computadores. A decisão atende ao pedido feito na terça-feira pelo promotor Washington Pesántez, que iniciou uma investigação sobre a empresa brasileira por um suposto crime interferindo no processo eleitoral equatoriano.

Pesántez comandou na terça-feira uma operação policial para revistar os escritórios da E-vote em Quito, para coletar informações que possam contribuir para sua investigação.

O advogado independente Stalin Raza registrou uma queixa contra a empresa brasileira e pediu à Promotoria que investigue as causas da paralisação da apuração de votos na madrugada de segunda-feira.

A E-vote foi contratada pelo Tribunal Supremo Eleitoral (TSE) para que a apuração rápida, mas seu sistema caiu e ela não pôde completar seu trabalho.

O TSE rescindiu na segunda-feira o contrato e anunciou que cobraria uma multa, além de processar a empresa por perdas e danos.

Funcionários da empresa brasileira disseram ao promotor Pesántez que o sistema caiu, aparentemente, por uma incompatibilidade com os dados do TSE. A E-vote teria explicado a dificuldade antecipadamente ao TSE, mas o tribunal não teria dado importância ao problema.

Segundo o último boletim da apuração oficial, que chegou a 90,17% dos votos, Noboa mantém o primeiro lugar, com 26,29%, à frente do esquerdista Rafael Correa, que está com 22,99%. Com o resultado, os dois disputarão o segundo turno, dia 26 de novembro.

See also this coverage from Convergência Digital on Probank, leader of the consortium of which E-Vote was a part.

E-Vote’s side of the story — I can’t remember exactly where I read this, sorry — is that the Ecuadorian elections commission changed the parameters of the job at the last minute, throwing the whole process into confusion. It says it was ordered to stop counting votes when its run was 70% complete, at which point the whole process started over with a manual recount.

Oof. Does that stink, or what?