Paraguayan Senator Derlis Maidana (Colorado Party) called on the political class to take a responsible stance and support the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE) amid questions about the reliability of voting machines. The criticisms were raised by Senator Lilian Samaniego and sectors of the opposition.
“I think that we, the political class, have to be responsible in the sense of supporting the institutions,” said Maidana, defending the credibility of the Electoral Court. He recalled that allegations of fraud made in previous processes, such as those by former candidate Payo Cubas, ended without evidence. “All the allegations made by Payo Cubas at the time with other people were absolutely unfounded,” he declared.
The senator highlighted that the main control mechanism remains the verification between the physical ballots deposited in the ballot boxes and the results printed by the electronic machines. “The biggest audit is that the number of ballots in the envelopes must match what appears printed as the result of the electronic voting machines,” he explained.
Despite defending the system, Maidana expressed support for carrying out additional audits and controls. “Of course, let 20 or 50 audits be done,” he said. He compared the Paraguayan system with that of other countries, citing the case of Peru, where the presidential results took weeks to be defined. “We have one of the best electoral systems in the world,” he concluded, reiterating the need to maintain oversight mechanisms.