Following participation in the 3rd International Congress on Electoral Technology in Guatemala, the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) underscores that innovation in electoral systems must be guided first and foremost by public trust, transparency, and democratic integrity rather than operational efficiency alone.
ABEC’s Chairman, Ambassador G.B Thomas and Data Processing Manager, Samantha Leacock attended a three-day congress, organized by the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights through CAPEL, which brought together electoral authorities and technology experts from across Latin America and the Caribbean to examine emerging challenges facing democratic institutions in the digital era.
Discussions revealed a shared regional concern: declining public confidence in democratic institutions represents the greatest threat to electoral integrity. While new technologies, including artificial intelligence, digital identity systems, and biometric authentication, offer meaningful opportunities to improve electoral administration and accessibility, their adoption must be accompanied by robust legal safeguards, clear accountability frameworks, and sustained human oversight.
ABEC’s Chairman noted that potential applications of artificial intelligence in electoral management, such as voter assistance, document processing, and workflow optimization, require unprecedented levels of transparency, strict data protection measures, and comprehensive public consultation before any consideration of implementation.
The Congress also highlighted the importance of regional cooperation in developing shared standards for technology evaluation, vendor accountability, system auditing, and crisis management. Coordinated approaches, facilitated by CAPEL, were identified as essential to strengthening democratic resilience across the Americas.
The Electoral Commission reaffirmed its commitment to cautious, consultative, and principled engagement with electoral technology. Any future consideration of technological innovation will prioritize constitutional protections, citizen privacy, accessibility, and public confidence, with broad stakeholder involvement including political parties, civil society, and the electorate.
The Commission emphasized that electoral integrity ultimately rests on institutional competence, transparency, and democratic values, and it remains committed to ensuring that technology serves democracy, not the reverse.
