Radio Panama Editorial
After different people testified to the media about alleged irregularities in the process of collecting signatures in support of pre-candidates for free application, the Electoral Court (TE) decided to file the corresponding criminal complaints with the Electoral General Prosecutor’s Office (FGE).
Through a statement, the TE reiterated that the app for collecting signatures does not validate signatures based on photos of people, since it has always used “proof of life” software to verify that the person is in charge of the investigation. camera.
Among the points that stand out to file the complaint are:
1. As has been fully demonstrated before different media groups, the apps does not validate signatures based on photos of people, since it has always used a software of “proof of life” to corroborate that the person whose photo has been captured with the device’s camera lens is in front of her. Hence, the falsity of the videos that have circulated trying to say the opposite and that are part of criminal acts provided for in the Electoral Code; For this reason, the corresponding criminal complaints will be filed with the General Electoral Prosecutor’s Office (FGE).
2. Based on concerns raised directly to the Electoral Tribunal by some free candidacy pre-candidates about validations of the apps when the camera lens was covered when taking the photo of the citizen, the institution carried out, through the Internal Audit Department, an audit of 100% of the signatures collected through the appswhich totaled 218, 183 signatures as of Monday, October 10, 2022, and 1,019 signatures were detected that should be annulled, as in effect they were on Saturday, October 15, 2022, and reduced to each candidate as published in the Electoral Bulletin #5191-A on Monday, October 17, 2022. In parallel, the system update was performed starting Tuesday, October 11, as mobile devices went live.
3. As stated in Decree 29 of 2022, regulations for the 2024 General Election, all recidivist activists who have improperly used the application collecting signatures by obstructing the camera lens of the device are being suspended.
They added that in the same way, the criminal complaint will be filed with the Electoral General Prosecutor’s Office to investigate and determine the criminal responsibility of the suspended activists and of those who, together with them, participated in these acts.
The Electoral Court reiterates that the application (apps) for the collection of signatures in support of pre-candidates is a reliable technological tool that is equivalent to the digital version of a mobile book with the advantage that it performs an instant biometric validation of the people who provide support. The facts show that this is how citizens appreciate it by continuing to increasingly support pre-candidates by free application through the application.
