NewsWhore
04-02-2009, 07:40 PM
The proprietary computer software used for elections by the Central Electoral Board (JCE) was apparently stolen by an employee and subsequently sold to El Salvador as part of a "package" that included the program and the servers. A very similar product was shown off during their recent elections. Diario Libre phoned Rene Torres, the chief of the IT section at the Supreme Electoral Tribune in El Salvador, who reiterated that the system was sold to them by a company named UIS. The JCE is trying to establish whether the company has any connection with UIS Dominicana and its concessionaire UIS Taiwan. The former won the bidding to sell the JCE 800 units of equipment called EIT-3000 for scanning and transmitting election results, for more than RD$59 million, according to Act 076/2008 of the session of the Administrative Chamber on 25 February 2008.
The JCE Administrative Chamber says they know who stole the software, but will not reveal the name "in order not to complicate the investigations."
According to chamber chief magistrate Roberto Rosario, he and other magistrates saw the program working in the El Salvador elections on 21 March when they were there as observers. This was when they found out about the piracy that led to discussions between the Dominican delegates and the Salvadorans.
Rosario reported that as soon as they got back to the country, the employee from the IT section resigned. He had been working at the JCE for over six years. Administrative Chamber member Jose Angel Aquino denied that the accused had left the country and he said that the JCE is aware of his location.
The JCE Administrative Chamber is keeping very quiet about the investigations into this case. Rosario prefers to wait and not give out any statements. When Aquino was questioned as to whether the JCE would sue the private company that is selling the pirated software, he said that this would depend on the Attorney General's investigations, which will indicate the extent of the fraud. When Salvadoran official Rene Torres was asked about the value of the "package" that was purchased from the UIS Company, he said he did not know. The Administrative Chamber magistrates say they do not have this information, since the software, known as "Scrutiny (of vote counts) and Transmission" or simply EIT, was created by internal technicians at the JCE. Faced with this reality, the political parties are worried about breach of trust among the JCE IT department personnel.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
The JCE Administrative Chamber says they know who stole the software, but will not reveal the name "in order not to complicate the investigations."
According to chamber chief magistrate Roberto Rosario, he and other magistrates saw the program working in the El Salvador elections on 21 March when they were there as observers. This was when they found out about the piracy that led to discussions between the Dominican delegates and the Salvadorans.
Rosario reported that as soon as they got back to the country, the employee from the IT section resigned. He had been working at the JCE for over six years. Administrative Chamber member Jose Angel Aquino denied that the accused had left the country and he said that the JCE is aware of his location.
The JCE Administrative Chamber is keeping very quiet about the investigations into this case. Rosario prefers to wait and not give out any statements. When Aquino was questioned as to whether the JCE would sue the private company that is selling the pirated software, he said that this would depend on the Attorney General's investigations, which will indicate the extent of the fraud. When Salvadoran official Rene Torres was asked about the value of the "package" that was purchased from the UIS Company, he said he did not know. The Administrative Chamber magistrates say they do not have this information, since the software, known as "Scrutiny (of vote counts) and Transmission" or simply EIT, was created by internal technicians at the JCE. Faced with this reality, the political parties are worried about breach of trust among the JCE IT department personnel.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)