The Implementation of E-voting in Latin America: The Experience of Salta, Argentina from a Practitioner's Perspective

The most important implementation of e-voting in Argentina so far took place in the province of Salta, in the north of the country on the border with Bolivia. With an electoral roll of 850,000 voters that is ethnically diverse and a complex electoral geography due to a high percentage of mountainous area, its implementation is very valuable for a comparative analysis. The gradual implementation allowed for a systematic assessment, conducted by a large survey of voters and poll workers, who had used both voting methods (the traditional one and the new voting system). This paper presents this case study, emphasizing the goals pursued by this reform as well as some findings from this large undertaking. It concludes by documenting the lessons learned and examining the challenges ahead.