United Kingdom, London – November 21, 2016- “All over the world, there is frustration and anger. A lot of people feel that democracy doesn’t represent them. All of us who care deeply about this need to take the time this week to learn from each other and see how we can restore the faith in democracy. We must argue forcefully for the kind of elections which leave people confident that their vote was accurately and fairly counted and that it will be reflected in the outcome.”
With these remarks, Smartmatic’s Chairman, Lord Malloch-Brown introduced the 2016 U.S. Election Program and Seventh Global Elections Organization (GEO-7) Conference organized by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
The event, held from November 6-10, 2016, was the largest international gathering of election professionals of the year, with representatives from Albania to Zimbabwe in attendance. More than 500 guests attended the conference; among them 250 election management bodies from around the world.
The USEP and GEO-7 represented a unique opportunity for participants to build relationships with colleagues and exchange best practices and lessons learned. “This week we had a unique chance to speak with election authorities from all over the world. We must work together to strengthen democracy by enabling a better and more fluid dialogue between governments and their citizens,” said Antonio Mugica, Smartmatic’s CEO.
Mugica joined a panel discussion about election integrity and credibility. While presenting the company, he made a strong case for election technology: “Well-designed technology brings integrity, security, accuracy and auditability to elections.” Sharing the stage with Antonio were Lorenzo Cordova Vianello, President of the National Electoral Institute of Mexico; Michael Hogan, Partner Operations for Civics and Elections, Google; and Dr. Staffan Darnolf, Director, Program Development and Innovation, International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
