Brazil to Use Linux-based Voting System

Apr 08, 2008

The Brazilian election authority has announced that voting systems based on Linux will be used for the election later this year.

The Tribunal Superior Eleitoral quoted security and legal conformity as the reasons for migrating from VirtuOS and Windows CE to Linux.

Open Source applications and custom-applications developed by the authority are digitally signed and can be inspected on site by election supervisors to ensure their integrity. The fact that the voting machines do not have an Internet connection also helps to protect against attacks and manipulation. The political parties will be given access to the Urna Eletrônica (electronic ballot box) between April and September. This will give them time to test the system's security and submit proposals. This auditing phase is prescribed by law. Brazil is an eVoting pioneer and uses electronic voting systems for all elections.

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