As happened in the first round, the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ) again selected 33 ballot boxes this morning (29) to be submitted to the integrity test. Each of the equipment will undergo a simulation to prove that the system is working, that is, that the number entered coincides with the one that is computed.
The ceremony, accompanied by international observers, was conducted by the president of TRE-RJ, judge Elton Leme, and by the president of the Audit Committee for Electronic Voting (Cave) of TRE-RJ, Marcel Duque Estrada. There was also a live broadcast on social media.
According to the legislation, the entities that supervise the electoral process – such as the Federal Police, the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU), the Armed Forces and the political parties themselves – could indicate the first polls to be audited. The representatives who were present, however, gave up this prerogative. As there were no indications, the choice was entirely made by lot.
To combat misinformation in this year’s elections, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has been seeking to give more visibility to the audit process, whose rules are set out in Resolution 23,673/2021. In Rio de Janeiro, the number of ballot boxes sent to the integrity test jumped from 15 to 33. The expansion was decided by the TRE-RJ in accordance with the TSE guidelines. According to Marcel Duque Estrada, the intention is to raise another level of transparency.
Biometry
Of the 33 polls that will be audited in Rio de Janeiro, six will undergo the integrity test using biometrics as the identification process. This is a pilot project that the TSE, in partnership with some TREs, is developing in this year’s elections. These six boxes were drawn from among those installed at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), which houses 21 polling stations. The test will be carried out with the participation of voluntary voters who, after voting on election day, will be invited to the initiative. The other 27 ballot boxes that will be submitted to the audit were drawn from all the electoral zones in the state.
Another 10 urns were drawn and will undergo another evaluation called the authenticity test. This is a procedure that must be conducted by the judge of the electoral area where the equipment is located. Accompanied by representatives of the inspection entities present, he holds several conferences to verify that the media present in the sealed urn are those that were inserted at least 20 days before.
First round
Integrity tests are performed in all states. The results of audit carried out in the first round were released by the TSE on October 6th. The agency reported that, across the country, 641 pieces of equipment were submitted to the process and there was 100% approval, proving the security of electronic voting. Remembering that the integrity test is filmed in full to compare the votes on paper, which are filled out previously, and typed at the time of the integrity test by the Electoral Justice servers”, said on the occasion the president of the TSE, Minister Alexandre de Moraes.
