Brazil has used electronic voting machines in its elections since 1996. But it is only recently they became controversial, with allegations by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that they are plagued by fraud.
Here are five things to know about the squat beige computers fueling a raging debate on democracy in Latin America's biggest country.
Ironically, given Bolsonaro's bashing, the electronic voting machines were introduced partly to combat fraud.
Brazilians used to vote on paper ballots where they would check a box or write in a name, depending on the type of election.
In a country where 14 percent of the adult population was illiterate, the system was chaotic, slow and fraud-prone.
"There were always problems with the count. Illegible writing, names written in the wrong place, X's outside the box -- all that meant a ballot was declared null," says Henrique Neves da Silva, a former judge on Brazil's Superior Electoral Tribunal.
"There was also a lot of fraud and ballot-box stuffing."
With help from the military, computer experts developed the country's first electronic voting machine, rolled out in 57 cities for the 1996 local elections.
Celebrated as a success, the voting machines were expanded to 67 percent of the electorate for Brazil's 1998 elections, and 100 percent for the 2000 elections.
Brazil is one of 23 countries using electronic voting for general elections, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.
Another 18 use them for regional elections.
The machines are equipped with a number pad.
When voters type the two-digit code for their chosen candidate, his or her picture appears.
They then press a green button to confirm.
"It's a very simple machine, with one function: to tally votes," says Da Silva.
A key detail: the machines are not connected to the internet.
When voting closes, poll workers remove the memory card from each machine and send them to the local office of the electoral authority, which in turn sends the information to the central counting system in Brasilia via an independent network.
In remote regions such as the Amazon rainforest, a satellite connection is sometimes used.
Results are usually finalized in around two hours -- not bad for a sprawling country with 156 million voters.
The vote-counting software is updated for every election.
Political parties, the judiciary and the military are allowed to inspect the source code.
Security tests are also held in which IT experts attempt to hack into the system.
"They literally take the machines apart, touch whatever they want. There is way more leeway than what (a theoretical hacker) would actually have on election day," says Da Silva.
No major security flaw has ever been detected.
Bolsonaro insists the system is plagued by fraud, but has provided scant evidence.
He claims he should have won the 2018 presidential election in the first round, instead of the runoff, but has offered no proof.
He is pushing for a paper print-out to be made of every vote, so the count can be checked.
But election authorities say that would only introduce an avenue for fraud.
Prosecutors are investigating the president on charges of spreading disinformation about the voting system, including during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in July that was spattered with falsehoods.
The US embassy said after that meeting that Brazil's elections are "a model for the world."
Bolsonaro has repeatedly threatened not to recognize the election result if the system is not changed.
Barbiecore has been on the tip of everyone's tongue — and now pink-themed travel is also having a boom. Here are 7 pink hotels and holiday homes to book.
Irish budget airline says business model is well placed to do well during a recession after coping with Covid
Starbucks named Laxman Narasimhan, a veteran of PepsiCo and other consumer brands, as its next chief executive on Thursday.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline that transports Russian gas to Germany will undergo further maintenance, Gazprom said on Friday after scrapping a Saturday deadline to resume flows, deepening Europe's difficulties in securing fuel. Gazprom was already undergoing maintenance from Aug. 31-Sept. 2, prompting concerns about supply to Europe ahead of the onset of winter if the outage was extended. Russia slashed flows through the pipeline to 40% of capacity in June and to 20% in July.
More consumers are turning to designer outlet villages in search of deals amid the cost of living crisis
Activist investor Nelson Peltz is winding up his London investment fund following a tussle with shareholders over the combative billionaire’s strategy.
The Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he believes the move “will curtail Putin’s capacity to fund his war” in Ukraine.
Global Menswear Market Global Menswear Market Dublin, Sept. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Menswear Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.The global menswear market reached a value of US$ 533.3 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 746.9 Billion by 2027, exhibiting a CAGR of 5.77% during 2021-2027. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19
It comes after an investigation into supermarket land contracts by the Competition and Markets Authority.
The Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he believes the move “will curtail Putin’s capacity to fund his war” in Ukraine.
The Competition and Markets Authority said its investigation found that the two businesses face significant competition, primarily from McAfee.
Russia is trying, but failing, to by-pass Western sanctions on high-tech goods for military purposes and its energy sector, and it is struggling to obtain international funding, U.S. Sate Department sanctions coordinator James O'Brien said on Friday. Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain have imposed a slew of sanctions on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February, blocking its access to its own foreign exchange reserves, to financial markets and advanced western technology, to reduce the Kremlin's ability to wage war.
As rising energy prices and a new gas levy in Germany are expected to triple fuel bills for consumers from autumn, pressure is mounting on the government to introduce a windfall tax on energy firms to fund further relief measures. But taxing "excessive" profits of energy companies has been a thorny issue for Germany's ruling coalition, with political resistance from a junior party and constitutional barriers. Germany's coffers have already been drained this year with two relief packages to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices on citizens, plus funds to upgrade the military and battle climate change.
Ukrainian officials are scouring the UK for foundries to make cannon artillery casings as the country burns through thousands per day, The Telegraph understands.
Gas giant Gazprom's board this week recommended the payment of 51.03 roubles ($0.8456) per ordinary share in dividends on the first half of 2022, sending the company's shares up around 25% and buoying Russian indexes. "Investors seem to have cheered up and hopes that the dividend idea is alive and that other Russian companies will join with Gazprom are gradually moving the market upwards," said Alexander Arutyunyan, chief economist at Russ-Invest. By 1532 GMT, the rouble-based MOEX Russian index was 0.9% higher at 2,467.4 points, its strongest mark since May 18.
India has overtaken the UK as the world’s fifth largest economy as Britain teeters on the brink of recession.
The higher costs are likely to find their way through to households’ food bills.
Namibian offshore oil and gas discoveries by TotalEnergies and Shell are of commercial quantities, likely in the billions of barrells, the southern African nation's mines and energy minister said on Friday. Both companies announced earlier this year that they had made "significant" discoveries offshore Namibia, and are currently making assessments. The companies did not detail the quantities found but a source told Reuters that Total's discovery was more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
CERNOBBIO, Italy (Reuters) -The European Union expects Russia to respect existing energy contracts but is prepared to meet the challenge if it fails to do so, Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Saturday. Gentiloni was speaking after Russia scrapped a Saturday deadline to resume flows via a major gas supply route to Germany, deepening Europe's difficulties in securing winter fuel. Gentiloni pointed to high gas storage levels across the EU and plans to cut energy consumption as a sign that the continent was preparing for what will be a tough winter.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Volkswagen's management and supervisory boards will meet on Monday to discuss whether the long-anticipated listing of sports car brand Porsche should go ahead in late September or early October, the carmaker said on Saturday. A decision will also be made on whether Volkswagen approves of the sale of 25% plus one share of ordinary shares in Porsche AG to Porsche SE, as laid out in a framework agreement by the two parties in February. That would give the Porsche and Piech families, which control Porsche SE, a blocking minority - a step that would bolster their push for greater control of the carmaker that was founded by their ancestor Ferdinand Porsche in 1931.