The National Electoral Commission is engaged in negotiations with the American ES&S company to buy voting machines, but not the software.

CNE chief Jorge Rodriguez says in a statement, “The negotiations we are advancing with the company will consist of the CNE being able to take control of the software” that Bizta is developing.

Jorge Rodríguez Gómez says CNE will be able to take 'control' of Smartmatic software.

Source:
1.https://web.archive.org/web
2.http://www.cne.gov.ve/notideta.asp

1. What was the regime’s interest in controlling the voting software and technology?

2. Why did the regime agree to buy the ES&S machines, but not the software that was up to international standards at the time?

3. Did the Venezuelan government’s purchase of 28% of the shares of the software developer allow the regime to create a custom-made software?

4. Why was Jorge Rodriguez was the right person to negotiate with the companies?

5. Why did Rodriguez handpick Bizta, a small and unproven company with no experience in electoral processes, as the provider of the country’s voting system software?

6. Is it because Bizta, unlike ES&S, would give the regime full control of the software and therefore of the electoral results?