Electronic vote machine technician configuring Brazilian voting machine

Technician configures a Brazilian electronic voting machine before election day, ensuring security and transparency of the electoral system.

About this subject

The Brazilian electronic voting machine, locally called 'urna eletrônica', has been used since 1996 to collect and count votes in Brazilian elections. Developed by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) in partnership with national industry, the machine replaced paper ballots, reducing fraud and speeding up vote counting. The current model, UE 2022, features a touch screen, numeric keypad, and printed vote (voto impresso) for auditing. Around 600,000 machines are used nationwide, serving over 150 million voters.

Configuring the machine before election day is a critical process. TSE technicians or contracted companies install official software, load candidate lists, and run functionality tests. Each machine is sealed and numbered, with security procedures such as digital signatures and data integrity checks. In 2022, public security tests were conducted, in which experts tried to hack the system without success, reinforcing the equipment's reliability.

The Brazilian electoral system is one of the most modern in the world, with fully digital electronic voting. The voting machine has no internet connection during voting, preventing remote attacks. After polls close, votes are transmitted via encrypted network to the TSE. The printed vote allows manual recount if needed, but is used only for auditing, not storage.

Interestingly, Brazil adopted electronic voting before many developed countries. The machine was created to eliminate common fraud in paper voting, such as 'voto de cabresto' (vote buying) and ballot forgery. Since its implementation, there have been no systemic fraud records involving the machines, and counting time dropped from days to a few hours. The model has inspired electoral systems in other countries, such as Argentina and Paraguay.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the electronic voting machine ensure vote security?

The machine has no internet connection during voting, uses digital signatures and encryption. The software is sealed and publicly tested.

Can the electronic voting machine be hacked?

No systemic fraud has been recorded. Security tests conducted by the TSE show the system is resistant to hacking.

What happens if the voting machine fails?

Each polling station has a backup machine. If both fail, votes are collected on paper ballots and entered later.