Hard dispute between companies and lobbyists for electoral control

The battle to win the vote counts the night of

presidential elections

This sparked a fierce lobbying war. Two companies are fighting hard inside and outside the official corridors for months to maintain this activity, close to $ 900 million. The government has drawn up a call for tenders that has raised questions. Today, it is not excluded that the booty is in the hands of a third company because it has been rebuilt.
THE NATION on the basis of official and private documents and testimonies.

The main contenders are Indra, of Spanish origin, and Smartmatic, of Venezuelan origin, although the Catalan Scytel, is delighted to give the surprise and stay with the control of PASO votes, the general and final vote. This will depend on the decision adopted by Correo Argentino in the coming weeks.

The first step will be known in these days, when the Post will announce the technical qualification granted to each company. Resolved this first step, will be advanced with the badysis of quotes.

The companies have deployed all kinds of underground tactics to promote their virtues and exhaust their rivals in front of senior officials of Casa Rosada and other ministries, post offices and journalists.

So, as he was able to rebuild
THE NATION, Jorge Born (m) knocked on the doors and on the phones tired of government officials on behalf of Smartmatic, who finally brought one of its owners, Pedro Mugica, from the United States.

In Indra, the local referee, Ricardo Viaggio, did not want to leave his chance in the newspapers without protesting to the officials of the conditions of the call for tenders, contract that they knew. win over the last 20 years.

With Indra and Smartmatic in the ring, Scytel managed to position itself in third place. According to critics, its president, Jesus Gil (formerly Indra), has known for years the former National Electoral Director, Alejandro Tullio, who now works at the Post Office. At another point, Tullio wrote a very critical report on Scytel.

The soap opera also has an episode in the government. Because if some members of the cabinet decided to open the game with a call for tenders that low cost badysis, others feared that this would result in inconvenience on election night. Today, everyone bets that previous simulations avoid posters. The elections are organized by the Ministry of the Interior, but the call for bids is in the hands of the

Argentine courier

, which depends on the Secretariat of modernization that leads

Andrés Ibarra

. Today, the call for bids has no set schedule, as usually happens.

Artillery points everywhere. Thus, Indra is reproached by his rivals for the so-called adjustment to his measure of previous offers. And they cite, as an example, what happened in 2017, when the government released the document "Recounting Votes" in which it failed to delete a comment in B.1.4 . "Are these cameras regulated by Indra?" Is included in a copy that was
THE NATION.

Indian rivals also hinted that the leaders of the Spanish company traveled to Colombia to meet the general management of Thomas Gregg & Sons, the fourth company interested in the company.

"Who travels to another country to meet as a visitor the dome of a rival company?", Was excluded from the competition, which also points as a lobbyist of Thomas Gregg & Sons to Eduardo Novillo Astrada, president current of the Argentine Polo Association. (H).

Indra responds that they had joint operations with Thomas Gregg & Sons and that they had attended a working meeting. They acknowledged that the Argentine offer was on the table even though they said it was only because of the "surprise" that caused the Colombian company to land in the southern cone.

Smartmatic does not come out unscathed. Because Born was a major contributor to Mauricio Macri during the 2015 campaign. His rivals also think that the company grew up in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez and remember that he had problems in some countries where he served , as in the Philippines.

"We left and in bad terms in Venezuela," say Smartmatic. They claim that the allegations in the Philippines were motivated by the candidates who lost but have already been fired.

Scytel, meanwhile, goes along with his maximum referent, Jesus Gil and his lawyer, Jorge Tiscornia. He is also the victim of harbadment by his rivals, which reminds him of several presumed unsuccessful experiences in Ecuador, Mexico and Peru, as well as in Congo and Kenya. From Scytel, they replied that they had a new direction today and that what happened in Ecuador was not disqualifying to compete in Argentina.

Official and commercial sources agreed that Scytel might surprise. "She is the most willing to break the market," summed up an industry veteran.

In the coming days, the post office will announce the technical scores. Then he will advance with the badysis of the quotes. If between two or more a difference of less than 10% is recorded, they will be summoned to improve their prices. In figures, the government estimates that the cost of the provisional count of nearly 90,000 tables does not exceed $ 27 million – as in previous competitions. They are happy to pay less than 20 million US dollars.