TSE confirms integrity of electronic voting machines and prepares country for 2026 elections

This Sunday (4), 158 million Brazilians will be able to exercise their right to vote in the first round of elections. This Saturday (3), the Superior Electoral Court carried out the last check of the electronic voting systems.

The test was carried out to verify that the systems installed in the TSE Data Processing Center are the same as those sealed and digitally signed on September 4th. The check was accompanied by the president of the TSE, minister Kássio Nunes Marques, party representatives, Electoral Attorney General, Chamber of Deputies, Comptroller General of the Union and other guests who participate in the inspection of the Brazilian electoral system.

Right then and there, TSE technicians issued a document that proved the integrity of the programs responsible for receiving the ballots and totaling the votes. The report also showed that the system did not previously register any votes for president and vice-president of the Republic, ensuring that the election starts from scratch for all candidates. This confirmation is called zeroth and will take place in all voting locations in the country.

"This ceremony is the completion of the development of the systems that spent the whole year being inspected and audited by the entities monitoring the Brazilian electoral process. We ensure that the software that entered the electronic voting machines is precisely the software inspected, digitally signed and sealed. Yesterday, in all electoral zones in the country, there was an additional verification, which is the verification of the transmission systems", says Júlio Valente, Secretary of Information Technology at the TSE.

Superior Electoral Court carries out the last check of electronic voting systems – Photo: Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction

Everything is also ready at the Integrated National Command and Control Center, which will monitor voting across the country in real time. National and state security forces will work together throughout voting day to combat vote buying, irregular transportation of voters, disinformation and monitoring cases of political violence.

In 2026, the Federal Police seized more than R$26 million in cash. The suspicion is that the money would be used to commit electoral crimes.

Another concern of the Superior Electoral Court is to guarantee free movement of voters from early in the morning until 5 pm, Brasília time, when voting ends. An ordinance from the TSE and the Ministry of Justice determines that the Federal Highway Police avoid blockages or retentions on highways that could hinder access to voting locations.

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