The Chavez government by this time has acquired 28% of Bitza Corporation, the company developing the election software for Smartmatic Automated Election Systems.
The regime’s representative on the board is Omar Montilla Castro, through the government’s Society of Risk Capital (SCR), under the state-owned Industrial Credit Fund (FONCREI),
“The negotiations that we are advancing with the company consist of the CNE being able to have control of the software”, says National Elections Commission (CNE) rector Jorge Rodriguez.
On October 8, 2003, Jorge Rodríguez Gómez says that in negotiations to take 28% of Bitza Corporation, which makes Smartmatic software, “the CNE would be able to take control of the software.”
Source:
1.https://adrianavigilanza.wordpress.com/ (PAGE 20-30)
2.http://www.cne.gov.ve/notideta.asp?id=142
1. If the Venezuelan government has 28% ownership of the software company, would this mean that it has enough power to influence the decision-making process of the company, including using the software to give voting results favorable to the ruling party?
2. Having 28% of the ownership of the software company, wouldn’t this also give the Venezuelan government, control over the source code?
3. Doesn’t this create a conflict of interest?
4. Is it ethical or even legal in terms of electoral laws that a central government owns the country’s voting software? If a central government controls the software company, wouldn’t it also be controlling the election results?
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