Electoral court promises more transparency for 2022 election

President Jair Bolsonaro may have lost a House vote that would have brought paper ballots back to Brazil’s electronic voting system, but a recent move by electoral authorities shows that he has effectively moved the needle on the debate. Supreme Court Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, who presides over the Superior Electoral Court, announced that new measures will be taken to “increase transparency” of the system.

“With due respect to those who have good-faith concerns, we are further increasing transparency and publicizing audit mechanisms, inviting parties and other stakeholders to take part in every step of the process,” Justice Barroso said. 

The electoral court will extend auditing of the vote-counting program in the voting machines from six months to one year before the elections. This is the only time at which there is human intervention in the design of the voting system. Afterwards, the program is sealed and sent to regional electoral courts — a process overseen by the Federal Police and prosecutors.

Authorities will additionally create an independent transparency committee with representatives from the private sector and public institutions, who will have unrestricted access to the electoral courts’ technicians and equipment.

Since its implementation in 1996, the electronic voting system has never faced credible fraud allegations. But Mr. Bolsonaro’s push for paper ballots is less about the reliability of the election and more about sowing distrust in democratic institutions.

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