Event Summary
In mid-March 2026, the Superior Court of Electoral Justice (TSJE) started the dissemination of electronic ballot boxes in Asuncion. The electronic ballot boxes are intended to be used in the upcoming elections, with municipal elections scheduled for June 2026 and general elections scheduled for October 2026. Opposition members have expressed their demands for a technical review of the voting machines, noting 16 vulnerabilities and risks.
While an audit of the machines has been conducted between February 2 and 27, the process was criticized for resembling a guided demonstration of how the machines work rather than a test of their reliability and for failing auditability standards, such as technical independence, access to verifiable evidence, and documentation. Despite the TSJE’s assurance of the machines’ invulnerability, several political parties have raised concerns and requested the extension of the audit period, verification of the integrity of the vote, protection of the entry ports of the devices, and improvement of the user interface.
The audit follows a controversial debate regarding the acquisition or rental of voting machines in preparation of the elections. While the Argentine consortium Comitia-MSA, a company associated with business partners of President Peña, was initially disqualified from the tender process, it was later awarded the tender following a second process with Comitia-MSA as the single bidder. The company had already provided the voting machines for the 2021 and 2023 elections with concerns raised about possible electoral fraud and requests to reopen ballots.
The irregularities in the bidding process and in the audit negatively impact security and transparency of the upcoming electoral process and reduce public trust in electoral institutions and the elections itself. While the TSJE has been responsive on particular issues, such as the participation of women leaders or efforts to improve the registration of indigenous peoples in the civic registry, it has been unresponsive to the concerns raised with regard to the voting machines. The lack of institutional dialogue with social organizations, already noted in previous parts of the electoral process, limits citizen participation, civil society monitoring of the electoral process, and the exercise of civic rights.