Elections 14F. Decidim

The next 14F autonomic elections are held in Catalonia amid the controversy that arose with COVID and the safety of citizens.

During the last days, they have appeared in the news how many members of the polling stations have opened resources for not performing the functions required of them, for fear of contagion. And measures taken such as time slots in which infected or suspected contagion people can approach the schools to vote, have done nothing but increase this fear.

There is something very clear, in the right to vote no one can be discriminated against, and in an increasingly elitist society where the distance to power is increasing, an election is one of the few events where all citizens are equal , and we all must be able to exercise our right.

Therefore, in times of fear and insecurity at the health level, and with the intention and obligation to take care of all of us, the question that appears is, if we are in the digital age and we have tools, why has it not been articulated an online vote?

In this sense, there are platforms for collaborative participation such as Decidim.

With the adaptation and use of this type of software, secure voting can be carried out in all senses:

• Guaranteeing completely anonymous voting.
• With the user verification systems necessary to guarantee the vote of each citizen.
• Audited vote.
• Practical, intuitive and easy to use.
• Possibility of impersonalizing so that older or less digital people can vote through authorized agents.
• And most importantly, maintaining social distancing.

Perhaps there is some way to go before elections can be held with these platforms, but we are heading in the right direction as long as the competent administrations work on the necessary mechanisms to legitimize them and spread their use among their population. For the participation of all, for all, democratic and safe.