HIBAPRESS
A group of activists have expressed their concerns about the exploitation of mobile phones and cameras inside polling booths during the upcoming parliamentary elections to turn secret voting into a verifiable process. This could potentially open the door to pressure on voters or demands for them to prove their choice of a specific party or candidate.
One of the potential issues is allowing a voter to enter the booth while carrying a phone capable of taking a picture of the ballot paper after marking their choice. The photo, if used, could become a means of proving the execution of a prior agreement between the voter and someone seeking to influence their vote.
This possibility raises particular concerns in the context of vote-buying, which makes ballot secrecy a fundamental element in protecting voter freedom. The inability of any party to verify a voter's choice is assumed to prevent the imposition of voting for a specific candidate in exchange for money or other benefits.
In this sense, ballot secrecy requires not only that the members of the polling station are unaware of the voter's choice, but also that no external party is able to demand proof of the voter's ballot content after they leave the booth.
These concerns come at a time when the country is preparing for parliamentary elections, the integrity of which requires taking precautions to prevent any means that could be exploited to influence voters' will or compromise the secrecy of their choices.
In this context, citizens have called for clear regulatory measures to prevent the entry of mobile phones, smartwatches, cameras, and other devices capable of photographing or recording into polling booths. This should be accompanied by clear notices for voters and assigning the heads of polling stations to remind them of this prohibition before handing out ballot papers.
The proposals also include unifying the approach to any attempt to photograph the ballot paper and including such incidents in the electoral process minutes, ensuring the same procedure is applied across different polling stations.
Ballot secrecy remains one of the fundamental guarantees that should protect voter freedom, while prohibiting the photographing of the ballot paper inside the booth is one of the possible measures to preserve this secrecy, alongside other measures related to monitoring the electoral process and ensuring its integrity.
