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Elections by Internet!!!
Costa Rica, which has no army, boasts that it is the most democratic country in Latin America and the only one in Central America. This experiment must be an attempt to stress that claim, and to prove that Costa Rica is technologically advanced. There is more to this than meets the eye. Traditionally, Costa Rica was viewed as the natural center of Central America; the Central American Court of Justice is located there, and it was the site of a Central America parliament. The first seems to be moribund, the second dead. It looks as though, with U.S. backing, the other Central American countries, newly-minted democracies, are making Managua, Nicaragua the site of the proposed Central American government. The European Union still looks to Costa Rica. The U.S. is annoyed that in much of Latin America, the E.U. is viewed more favorably than the United States. I would appreciate any clarification.
Ronald Hilton.
COSTA RICA TESTING ONLINE ELECTIONS
With the help of students from Villanova University Law School, the government of Costa Rica is launching what appears to be the first test of a national election online, with hopes that if the test is successful, paper ballots will have been eliminated entirely by the next election in 2002. The project will use computers located in schools around the country and linked to the Internet, and security experts at AT&T Labs in New Jersey will help design and implement the system.
(New York Times CyberTimes 22 Oct 97)
Ronald Hilton -
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