Strictly speaking, this is not a public contract ultimately leading to an award but a call for applications to obtain approval as an advisory body for digital electoral systems (see attached descriptive document). The format of the contract notice shall be used to ensure maximum publicity for this call for applications.

Purpose of the call for applications

The regulation obliges the competent authority to find at each election that the digital applications and processes used during the election guarantee the integrity of the data and the secrecy of the vote. In this context, the competent authority shall order from the supplier concerned of a digital application a qualitative assessment report finding positively this conformity. This order is made by the authority concerned only once per digital system.

In order to obtain this evaluation report, suppliers of digital systems must contact the approved advisory bodies. The suppliers of the digital applications bear the cost of this notice issued by an approved inspection body. This procedure is comparable to that of statutory auditors.

The advisory body ensures that digital election applications guarantee the secrecy of the vote and that they comply with the principle of "free and fair elections" and the principle of "one man one vote".

The advisory body monitors with the respective suppliers the digital applications and IT processes with regard to, in particular, candidate management, electronic voting, digital counting, vote processing and the calculation of the seats that will be used during an election.

It shall advise the competent authority on whether or not those IT applications and processes guarantee the integrity of the data and the secrecy of the vote.

The approval as an advisory body will be valid for all elections organised in Belgium, i.e. elections organised by the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the German-speaking Community.

See attached call for applications.