The Electoral Service (Servel) opened two market consultations to find telecommunications and operations suppliers for the next electoral cycle, according to Diario Financiero. Sonda, Indra Sistemas, Pacifico Cable and Buk SpA are among the companies that responded, submitted questions or sent proposals.
Servel is the autonomous body that organizes elections in Chile. Among other tasks, it manages the electoral register and transmits results from polling places.
The schedule is already set. Primaries for regional governors and mayors will take place on June 11, 2028, with registration open until April 12 of that year. The first round will be held on October 29 and the second on November 26. Parliamentary and presidential elections will follow in late 2029.
The consultations were published on MercadoPúblico, the state's procurement platform. The telecommunications consultation requests information on technical solutions, costs and timelines. The operations consultation covers personnel management and logistics services. The service requires the "timely, reliable and secure transmission of electoral information" from polling places and vote-counting boards, in Chile and abroad.
A change will be necessary. Telefónica, which won the tender for the 2025 parliamentary and presidential elections, sold its local assets to Millicom. According to the newspaper, this means losing the experience of a process recognized for its speed and efficiency.
The contract with Telefónica, signed in March 2025, cost $17,841,174,079, charged to the 2025 Budget. Purchase orders show that it subsequently increased by $24,464,224.
The search coincides with a dispute over funding. This week, Congress's Fourth Joint Budget Subcommittee rejected the budget allocation for Servel for 2027 proposed by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Servel, that proposal entailed a 12% cut. The body warns that the reduction poses a critical challenge to retaining specialized staff and implementing and testing the electoral system's technological architecture. The allocation remains under discussion in Congress, and the source does not specify when the tender will open.
