Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro criticized Brazil’s electoral system during a rally on Tuesday (23) in the state of Aragua. The president stated, without evidence, that the results of Brazil’s electronic voting machines are not audited.
“In Brazil, not a single ballot paper is audited,” Maduro told a crowd at the political event.
“We have the best electoral system in the world, we have 16 audits,” said the president, arguing that his country also carries out a real-time audit of 54% of the ballot boxes. “Where else in the world do they do that?”
In addition to Brazil, Maduro also criticized the electoral counting processes in the United States and Colombia, where, according to him, votes are also not audited. The full speech was published by the president on his official X account.
The criticism comes after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said that Maduro needs to respect the democratic process and the results of the Venezuelan elections, which will take place this Sunday (28).
Lula added, in an interview at the Alvorada Palace, that he was “scared” by Maduro’s statement about a “bloodbath” in Venezuela if he is defeated at the polls.
“Whoever loses the elections gets a vote shower. Maduro has to learn: when you win, you stay; when you lose, you leave,” said Lula.
In response, Maduro said that, “whoever was scared should have a chamomile tea.”
“I didn’t lie, I just made a reflection. Whoever was scared should take a cup of chamomile, because the people of Venezuela have been through a lot and they know what I’m saying. And in Venezuela, peace will prevail,” the Venezuelan replied.
Ballot boxes in Brazil are audited
Brazil has a strong security and transparency system for vote counting, and any party, coalition or party federation can monitor all stages of the voting and counting process, as well as the electronic processing of the totalization of results.
The law also allows political parties to hire private companies to audit their systems, as explained by reporter Manoela Carlucci from CNN .
These companies must meet certain established criteria in order to be eligible to receive the computer programs used by the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which are fed in real time by the official vote counting and tallying system.
How does the ballot box audit work?
- 30 days before
The audit of the functioning of electronic voting machines serves to demonstrate the functioning and security of the devices.
This process begins 30 days before the election, when the Regional Electoral Courts appoint an Audit Commission for the Operation of Electronic Ballot Boxes.
- One day before the election
One day before the official vote, the Electoral Court carries out a type of test vote using electronic ballot boxes. At the time, the devices are installed in rooms with filming cameras where the vote is recorded.
- On election day
On election day, the counting of votes from the “parallel ballot” begins at the same time as the official ballot. Therefore, once the document proving that there are no votes in the official ballot box is printed, the counting of votes from the “parallel election” begins.
- At the end of the election
At the end of voting, the ballot box prints a Ballot Box Report and the auxiliary system issues a report. These two documents are compared by the audit committee. This makes it possible to check whether the ballot box actually worked normally and whether the votes recorded are correct.
This entire process is monitored and can be followed by any citizen, as several Regional Electoral Courts broadcast it via YouTube.
Public Security Test
The seventh edition of the public ballot box security test was carried out in December last year by the TSE.
The process carried out aims to check the integrity of the devices that will be used in voting for the municipal elections, in October of this year.
In May of this year, investigators will return to the Superior Electoral Court to check whether the improvements made to the system are sufficient to combat attacks.
(With information from Manoela Carlucci, from CNN )
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Source: CNN Brasil
Bruce Belcher is a seasoned author with over 5 years of experience in world news. He writes for online news websites and provides in-depth analysis on the world stock market. Bruce is known for his insightful perspectives and commitment to keeping the public informed.
