Brazilian court rules out “relevant risks” with electronic voting for October elections

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The body maintained that it has fulfilled its objective of testing the systems and the electronic voting machine, detailing that on no occasions have they managed to compromise the integrity or secrecy of the suffrage.

President Bolsonaro has questioned the security of the electronic ballot boxes, asserting that they are unreliable and that there is a risk of “electoral fraud“.

On Wednesday, July 13, Brazil’s Court of Auditors ruled out that during the holding of next October’s general elections, there are relevant risks, referring to the electronic voting system that the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has labeled as manipulable.

“The ministers of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) have concluded that so far, no relevant risks have been identified concerning the 2022 General Elections (…) It has also highlighted that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) is in line with international best practices and has plans to prevent the interruption of activities in case of serious incidents, failures, or disasters,” the body assured in a statement.

Specifically, the TCU participated in the public testing of electronic ballot boxes and has certified that “there is no risk to the integrity of the devices and the voting system,” as in the alleged case of a cyber attack during the elections next October 2.

“The TSE has taken great care to improve the internal security of the electoral process, although the success of the election also requires articulation with other institutions and with society, especially so that its execution and conclusion is peaceful”, has assessed the president of the TCU, Bruno Dantas.

Likewise, the agency maintained that it has fulfilled its objective of testing the systems and the electronic voting machine, detailing that on no occasions have they managed to compromise the integrity or secrecy of the votes.

It also explained that the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) and the Regional Electoral Courts (TRE) would reserve around 3% and 15% of the voting machines to make up for any contingencies that may arise during the October elections.

Bolsonaro and other members of the Brazilian Executive have questioned the security of the electronic ballot boxes, assuring that they are unreliable and that there is a risk of “electoral fraud”.

This voting method has been used in the Latin American country since 1996, so some analysts assure that the strategy of the Brazilian president is to question the legitimacy of the electoral result at a time when the polls give his opponent, Lula da Silva, the victory in the elections.

At the same time, it is very suspicious that institutions opposing Bolsonaro, such as the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), insist on a “bulletproof integrity” of machines widely known to be corruptible but refuse to establish any auditable parameter that would allow recounting votes, like a printed receipt on paper for each vote registered electronically.

With information from Europa Press