Brazil Deploys More Than 560,000 Electronic Voting Machines for First-Round Vote

Overview

• Regional electoral courts have distributed and positioned over 560,000 electronic voting machines for the first round, with roughly 499,000 needed for voting and about 65,000 held as reserves.
• On the eve of voting officials performed zerésima ceremonies and required volunteer poll workers to confirm each machine shows zero votes before polls open to prove no votes are preloaded.
• Selected machines will undergo two audit tracks: authenticity checks that verify the installed programs match digitally signed, sealed versions and integrity audits that compare votes entered by hand with the machine’s recorded totals.
• During voting the machines run offline with no internet, Wi‑Fi or Bluetooth access and use cryptographic keys and digital signatures so the Boletim de Urna printout and the RDV file can be checked for authenticity and for cross‑count comparisons.
• The urnas’ procedures build on three decades of incremental security work, including public security tests that invite experts to probe systems, and local logistics partnerships such as school buses and municipal crews to move and guard equipment.