Brazil’s Federal Police start inspecting voting machine source code

Agents of Brazil’s Federal Police began inspecting the source codes of the electronic ballot box as well as the entire electronic voting system. The procedure began Monday (Aug 22) at the headquarters of the country’s Superior Electoral Court in Brasília.

Police technicians with knowledge of programming languages should perform examinations until Friday, September 16, in a room designated for this purpose in the court basement. During this time, they should be able to receive information and ask court technicians any questions.

Besides the Federal Police, institutions like the Prosecution Service and the Office of the Comptroller-General have also sent technicians to inspect the source codes of the electronic voting system. As it stands today, in addition to the Federal Police, the procedure is also usually carried out by members of the Armed Forces.

How it works

A source code is the set of command lines used to build computer programs, which in turn are used in the operation of electronic equipment. In Brazil, the source codes of the voting system is written by the electoral authorities themselves, and its integrity is essential to prevent fraud.

Inspecting the source codes of the electronic voting system is a mandatory stage of the electoral process and may be done by a series of authorized institutions—including political parties, federal prosecutors, the Federal Police, universities, the Federal Court of Accounts, the Brazilian Bar Association, and the Armed Forces.

In previous elections, the source codes were made available for inspection six months prior to the election. This time, however, the court decided to grant access to the codes in October 2021, a full year before the vote. At the time, Judge Luís Roberto Barroso, head of the electoral court back then, said the move aimed to increase transparency.