Colorado Senator Luis Alberto Pettengill, leader of the dissident faction of the National Republican Association (ANR), accused the Director of Electoral Processes of the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE), Carlos María Ljubetic, of lying about the audit of the voting machines used in the party's internal elections.
“When Ljubetic says that everything was audited and that all factions were able to control the system, he is lying. What happened was a simulation of transparency, not a serious audit with full access to the software and technical reports,” Pettengill said in an interview with Radio 1000 AM.
The senator stated that the audits did not follow the announced schedule and that the ANR's internal factions never had real access to the software review, despite formal requests. “What is the problem with us going to audit? We want to audit the software. We are not interested in the machines, nor in checking if they are printers. What needs to be audited is the software,” he declared.
Pettengill called on the TSJE to be more transparent: “Fight for your transparency. Transparency is achieved, no one grants it by decree.” He also advocated for the publication of full reports and the participation of universities, independent technicians, and representatives of all factions. “People's votes cannot depend on a 'trust me,'” he said.
The senator said he will insist in the Senate and with the TSJE that new technical audits, public and with plural participation, be carried out. “I am not attacking the electoral system; I am defending the citizen's right to know that their vote counts and is counted correctly. The worst fraud is forcing people to trust blindly,” he concluded.
No response from the TSJE or Ljubetic was available at the time of publication.