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Original article: El Servel ¿botín electoral de la derecha? Caso Joaquín Lavín Jr. salpica a consejero del organismo

Prosecutors Link Servel Councilor to Lavín León in Million-Dollar Data Leak Network, Reports El Mostrador

The Eastern Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office is preparing a new indictment against former congressman Joaquín Lavín León for electoral crimes. According to an exclusive report by the Investigation Unit of El Mostrador, the Public Ministry has confirmed the illegal use of electoral database resources from Servel on a platform called SocialTazk, funded by congressional contributions. The investigation directly implicates Servel councilor Jorge Manzano, a longtime UDI member, as the key figure who granted access to sensitive voter rolls for millions of Chileans.

According to the report from the PDI’s Digital Forensic Department accessed by El Mostrador, the application contained sensitive information including ID numbers, electoral addresses, and table codes. The data breach began in October 2018 when Manzano sent an email to Lavín León. When the then-congressman requested “the entire electoral roll of Chile,” Manzano responded two days later by attaching the complete file. “The report was able to detect that several electoral rolls… were indeed contained in the SocialTazk application,” notes the publication.

The audio transcripts included in the investigation reveal even more about the profit motive. In August 2023, Arnaldo Domínguez, an advisor to Lavín, messaged another collaborator stating, “Manzano has it; he always gives us the electoral roll.” Advisor Diego Álvarez’s reply was unequivocal: “With this, we can make money. After all, all parties need this info. If it goes well for us, you could pay off your house in no time.” The Prosecutor’s Office aims to prove the violation of Article 54 of Law No. 20.568, which prohibits the commercial sale of Electoral Register data.

Domínguez, as reported by El Mostrador, reached out to Manzano again requesting the database, adding a new detail: “I think the Republicans have it (sic), since they have a data center. According to what I was told,” indicating that the current President’s party may also have accessed this privileged information, highlights El Mostrador.

The relationship persisted for years. In August 2020, councilor Jorge Manzano himself requested a username and password to operate SocialTazk, indicating he was aware of the operation. Subsequently, in September 2024, Domínguez contacted Manzano again asking for the “latest official electoral roll from Servel,” agreeing to collect it physically. The investigation reveals that over 70 UDI candidates used the platform, including Congressman Jorge Alessandri, who stated that the tool “was connected to Servel’s data to know where he voted.”

The implications are severe for the regulatory body. According to Claudio Pizarro Sanguesa’s report, Article 55 of the law increases penalties “when the acts are committed by a public official,” risking jail time and lifelong disqualification from public office. Prosecutorial sources have assured El Mostrador that all information has been made available to Servel, yet as of the time of publication, the Electoral Service had not taken legal action against its own councilor.

To explore the emails, full audio recordings, and testimonies implicating councilor Manzano and sealing the new indictment against Joaquín Lavín León, we invite you to access the complete article at the following link from El Mostrador:

SocialTazk: Evidence from the Prosecutor’s Office Connecting Lavín León with Servel UDI Councilor

La entrada Is Servel the Right’s Electoral Prize? Joaquín Lavín Jr. Scandal Involves Electoral Councilor se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.