Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The ongoing electoral integrity analysis and audit of the official results of last month's presidential election in Bolivia is being carried out by the OAS, to which the Deputy referred. The team consists of 30 international specialists and auditors, including electoral lawyers, statisticians, computer experts, document authentication specialists and experts in chain of custody and electoral organisation. The team will focus on the verification of the vote count, including tally sheets, ballots and votes. The verification process includes matters relating to computing, the statistical projection component and the chain of custody of the ballot boxes. As indicated in the agreement signed with the OAS, the Bolivian Government will provide the auditors with all the necessary information. Representatives of political parties, academia and civil society have been invited to submit any information and complaints they believe should be analysed by the auditors. My understanding is that everybody, including Mr. Morales and his Government, is co-operating with this process. We have got to believe in some process here. We should not write it off before it is complete because of perceived bias. I think that is the process that is under way. Most importantly, we need to try to support a process that maintains stability in Bolivia and allows for a new electoral process within the next 90 days.

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