A WEB

System of government

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

- Republic

- Presidential  

- Number of Chambers (Unicameral / Bicameral) and their tenure

: Bicameral.

System of government-References:

 

Total population

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

202,656,788

 

Total population-References:

 

Total area (in square kilo meters)

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

8,514,877

 

Total area (in square kilo meters)-References:

 

Number of registered voters

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

142,822,046

 

Number of registered voters-References:

 

Number of registered political parties

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

35

 

Number of registered political parties-References:

 

Number of polling stations

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

451.877

 

Number of polling stations-References:

 

Average number of voters per polling station

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Voting age

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

Over 16 years: Voluntary

Over 18 years: Compulsory 

Voting age-References:

 

Elected Offices

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

President, State Governors, Senators, Federal and State Representatives and Representatives of the Federal District. Mayors and City Councilors(Municipal election).

Elected Offices-References:

 

Election system

Last Updated : 2016-09-30

List Proportional Representation

 

Election system-References:

 

Terms of office

Last Updated : 2016-09-30

The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 4-year term.

In the Federal Senate (Senado Federal) 81 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 8-year terms.** In the Chamber of Deputies (Camara dos Deputados) 513 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms

President: four years

 

Terms of office-References:

 

Election

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

Brazilian general election, 2014

 

Election-References:

 

Date

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

5 October 2014

 

Date-References:

 

Political parties in the elections

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Number of elected candidates

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

594

 

Number of elected candidates-References:

 

Voter turnout

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

74%

 

Voter turnout-References:

 

Number of ballots cast

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

112,683,879

 

Number of ballots cast-References:

 

Legal framework for elections

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

In Brazil, electoral law is NATIONAL and UNIFORM, i.e. the states have no legal competence on the subject, and as such there are no different electoral processes inside the country. Similarly, pursuant to Article 22, I of the 1988 Federal Constitution, the Union (the Federal Government) has exclusive competence to legislate on electoral law, which entails that the rules it issues are valid throughout the country, both for general and municipal elections.

 

Legal framework for elections-References:

 

Legal provisions

Last Updated : 2016-11-04

Constitution: "Constitui??o da Rep?blica Federativa do Brasil", art. 49 (XV), 84 (VIII), 231 (5), 14, 18 (3, 4), 27 (4), 61 (2):

 

Legal provisions-References:

 

Referenda

Last Updated : 2016-11-04

Constitution: "Constitui??o da Rep?blica Federativa do Brasil", art. 49 (XV), 84 (VIII), 14, 61 (2):

 

Referenda-References:

 

People’s Initiatives

Last Updated : 2016-11-28

N/A

 

People’s Initiatives-References:

 

Recall Votes

Last Updated : 2016-11-28

N/A 

Recall Votes-References:

 

Official name

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

-Superior Electoral Court of Brazil.

 

-The history of the Brazilian Electoral Justice System reveals the struggles and achievements of great characters, people who have always sought to strengthen democratic traditions and the legitimacy of elections. Founded in 1932, abolished in 1937 during the New State and reinstated in 1945, this specialized branch of the Judiciary has the prerogative to safeguard the integrity of all stages of the electoral process, from voter registration to the swearing in of the candidates elected by the country's ultimate holder of sovereign power: the Brazilian people.

In Brazil, electoral law is national and uniform, i.e. the states have no legal competence on the subject, and as such there are no different electoral processes inside the country. Similarly, pursuant to Article 22, I of the 1988 Federal Constitution, the Union (the Federal Government) has exclusive competence to legislate on electoral law, which entails that the rules it issues are valid throughout the country, both for general and municipal elections. Furthermore, in Brazil the Electoral Justice System, which is national, not only judges but also organizes elections in the country.

 

Official name -References:

 

Mission, Vision, Key Objectives, Functions

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

-In the administrative sphere, it operates voter registration, manages the National Voter Registry, acts in the preparation and organization of elections and also operates vote counting, the announcement of results and the "graduation" (swearing in) of elected candidates. In the judicial sphere, the Electoral Justice System reviews candidate applications, party and electoral accounts, illegal acts and electoral crimes. The Superior Electoral Court is endowed with regulatory power, and as such can issue the instructions it deems necessary for the implementation of electoral legislation. In this presentation, we will discuss the voting and vote aggregation systems developed by the Superior Electoral Court.

 

-The Electoral Court System has the authority to perform three different functions:

Judicial functions, Regulatory functions, Monitoring of Election Campaigns.

 

Mission, Vision, Key Objectives, Functions-References:

 

Type of EMB(independent, governmental, mixed)

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

Independent

 

Type of EMB(independent, governmental, mixed)-References:

 

EMB budget source

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

The legislature - Other

 

EMB budget source-References:

 

EMB expenditure audit

Last Updated : 2016-09-30

The Court of Auditors of the Union

 

EMB expenditure audit-References:

 

Number of EMB members (commissioners)

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

Full Ministers 7, Substitute Minister 8.

 

Number of EMB members (commissioners)-References:

 

Term of EMB members (commissioners)

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

For a specified number of years

 

Term of EMB members (commissioners)-References:

 

Who appoints members (commissioners)?

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

Head of State - Judiciary

 

Who appoints members (commissioners)?-References:

 

Selection of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson

Last Updated : 2016-12-14

N/A

 

Selection of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson-References:

 

Administrative divisions

Last Updated : 2016-11-04

Brazil is divided into 27 federative units: the Federal District, Distrito Federal (DF), and 26 states:

There are over 5500 municipalities in Brazil. The Federal District is divided into 31 administrative regions.

Administrative divisions -References:

 

Delimitation of constituencies(electoral district)

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

existing regional/provincial/other boundaries are used

 

Delimitation of constituencies(electoral district) -References:

 

Criteria for drawing boundaries

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

Conformity with local jurisdiction boundaries

 

Criteria for drawing boundaries-References:

 

Body responsible for drawing boundaries

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

Legislature (1st chamber)

 

Body responsible for drawing boundaries-References:

 

Requirements on the right to vote

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Reasons for having the right to vote revoked

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Electoral Eligibility

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Reasons for having the eligibility revoked

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Requirements for party registration

Last Updated : 2016-09-08

Other

 

Requirements for party registration-References:

 

Candidate nomination

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Nomination by political parties

- Self nomination (independents)

Candidate Registration (National Assembly members)

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Requirement

- Period

- Method

- Application form

- Acceptance and notice

- Restriction/Prohibition on candidate registration

Candidate registration deposit

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Amount of fee

- Return of fee

Uncontested Election

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Preparation of the voters list

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Whether the registration is compulsory (or not)

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Who is responsible for the voters list

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Voters list preparation procedure

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Inspection and objection procedure

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Definition

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Period

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Methods

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Prohibited forms of campaigning

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Who is not permitted to campaign

Campaign Finance

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Campaign expense limit

- Income and expenditure of campaign expense

- Report, public inspection, and open of income and expenditure

- Investigation on income and expenditure of campaign expense & actions

- Reimbursement of campaign expense

Presiding officers

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

① How many of officers in a polling station

② Roles of each officer

③ How we nominate the officers

Facilities or items a polling station is equipped with

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Polling station location criteria

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Voting hours

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Voting

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

① Is compulsory or voluntary?

② How many ballot papers are distributed to each voter?

Ballot Paper

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

① Determination of the order of candidates on ballots

② What has to be included in the ballot paper?

③ Ballot paper design or sample ballot paper

④ Valid and invalid ballot paper

Voting Procedures

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- Start ofvoting

- Process of voting

- End of voting

Marking method

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Special voting (Absentee / Early / Proxy / Assisted / Postal / etc)

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

① Who are subjected to do

② Voting procedures

Counting Location

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Counting period

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Vote counting method

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Counting Procedures

Last Updated : 2016-08-23

Tally of voters who voted - Each ballot paper held up for public scrutiny, with name of party/candidate called out loud - Data fed into computer for calculation - Copies of results of the count are publicly posted at the counting site immediately on the completion of the count - Copies of results are provided to party agents - Other

Counting Procedures-References:

 

When are ballots recounted?

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

Court order

 

When are ballots recounted?-References:

 

Who is eligible to vote for overseas voting?

Last Updated : 2016-10-24

Citizens residing outside the country

 

Who is eligible to vote for overseas voting?-References:

 

Overseas voters list preparation

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Where to vote

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Voting procedure for early voting

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Methods used to transport ballot papers

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Counting procedure

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

How is the elected candidate chosen in the case of a tie?

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Apportioning of National Assembly seats

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Results Announcement

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Is the announcement of preliminary result required?

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Deadline for announcement of final results

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Reason for holding a by- or re-election

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

By-election dates

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Electoral process

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Criteria for allocating free broadcast time

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

Equal regardless of size of party and previous performance - Based on result of previous election

 

Criteria for allocating free broadcast time-References:

 

Television debates

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

in presidential elections - in legislative elections

 

Television debates-References:

 

Blackout period for release of election survey results

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

10 or more day

 

Blackout period for release of election survey results-References:

 

Electoral dispute resolution body

Last Updated : 2016-11-04

The Regional Electoral Tribunals and the Electoral Judges.

 

Electoral dispute resolution body-References:

 

Electoral dispute resolution mechanism

Last Updated : 2016-11-28

N/A

 

Electoral dispute resolution mechanism-References:

 

Alternative electoral dispute resolution mechanism

Last Updated : 2016-12-14

N/A

 

Alternative electoral dispute resolution mechanism-References:

 

Direct public funding

Last Updated : 2016-10-28

regularly provided funding

Direct public funding-References:

 

Private funding of political parties

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

- If so, is there limit on the amount a donor can contribute to candidate or political party

Regulation, monitoring and investigation

Last Updated : 2016-10-28

Decertification and cease from office might be applied to candidates who infringed finance regulations. Fines, loss of public funding for up to two years and even deregistration penalties can be imposed on political parties.

 

Regulation, monitoring and investigation-References:

 

Regulation, monitoring and investigation bodies

Last Updated : 2016-10-28

EMB 

Regulation, monitoring and investigation bodies-References:

 

Which electoral processes are using ICTs?

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

 

-       Voter registration and identification

                       i.         Biometrics

-In the 2014 elections, 21,677,955 voters were eligible to vote using biometric identification in 764 municipalities. Of these, 91.5% were recognized through their fingerprints, a percentage that shows the success of biometric voter identification. Brazil currently has 145,120,425 voters, of which about 43 million, or 29.64%, are already registered biometrically (as of March 30 2016).

-4 Attempts (After studies, the STI found that about 93% of positive identifications occurred until the fourth attempt, and as such proposed decreasing the number of attempts allowed).Request for voters to type their birth year IF there is no identification through biometrics after the last attempt. The reason for the request is to avoid errors by poll workers, since under the current process voters attending the polling place without a voter ID will be served by poll workers, who look up the voter's name in a long list and type that voter's voter ID number manually in their control terminal. It was then possible that the poll worker would type the voter ID number of the person below or above the actual voter on the list; biometric identification would then not work, and the poll worker would then use an approval code to clear the voter. If the information does not match, the voter will be instructed to seek the Electoral Registry Office.

-       E-voting

                       i.         Goals for the electronic voting system

a)     Standardization

b)    Compliance with Brazilian legislation

c)     User-friendly process

d)    Cost reduction

e)    Durability

f)     Security

g)    Logistical Advantage

                      ii.         Computerized Vote: About 70 million voters were registered into one single database. The work to implement the electronic voting system began in 1995.

The IT committee, composed by TSE's technicians and consultants, presented a prototype of an electronic voting machine.

             iii.         The electronic voting machine

a)     Introduce

The electronic voting machine was developed by the Superior Electoral Court in order to afford more security and transparency to the electoral process, grounded on the premise of mitigating human intervention in vote counting and aggregation procedures. The Electronic Voting System is a full solution comprising a series of elements, including various forms of software, hardware, acquisition/procurement, logistics and procedures, all supported by a set of resolutions that regulate electoral legislation. Much more than a mere computational solution, the system brings together voter registration, party affiliation, candidate registration, the configuration of elections (general, municipal and supplementary elections, as well as popular consultations), voting, aggregation, announcements of results, accountability and a number of other tasks. The solution is planned, controlled, monitored and risk-managed by a Program that consists of over 120 interdependent projects, managed using the best project management practices established by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and those described in the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK),  supported in the TSE by the Enterprise Project Management (EPM) technological solution developed by Microsoft. The systems are developed under computational architectures standardized throughout the Electoral Justice System, and their development follows internationally recognized methodologies Unified Process (UP) and Agile Modeling, both customized to adjust to the reality of the TSE. Governance, management, operation, continuity and security policies and practices (among others) established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and in the guidelines of the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) and the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) all help ensure the success of Brazilian elections.

b)     Security

The TSE Data Center is responsible for hosting all computerized systems of the TSE and common-use systems of the Electoral Justice System, such as the National Voter Registry and ELO, the system responsible for the registration (conventional and biometric) of voters. The data center occupies an area of 152 m² in the annex building of the TSE. It is protected by a safe room certified under ABNT standard NBR 15247:2004, featuring fire- and flood-resistant rooms. It features fire prevention/fighting system, moisture and temperature monitoring and biometric access control.

c)      Advantage of electronic voting machine

Prevents fraud through voter ID control (the same voter cannot vote in more than one place. Verification of the software loaded in the voting machine by electoral inspectors before the machine is sealed. Generation of the "zeroth vote" report [zer?sima] (list of candidates with zero votes), proving that no votes have been pre-registered in the voting machine; issuance of the voting machine report [boletim da urna] at the end of voting, in 5 copies, one of which is posted at the entrance of the polling station, one delivered to the inspectors from the parties present, and the others to the Vote Counting Board. Elimination of "mapism" (i.e. manually tampering with data when filling in the voting machine report) as well as human error. Furthermore, manual voting required a commission to interpret unclearly written votes, which no longer occurs. Display of candidate photos to ensure verification by the voter. The electronic voting machine does not depend on electricity to operate, featuring 12 hours of battery life. The votes in the voting machine are cast through numbers: every party and every candidate has a number, which makes it easy and fast to vote. The electronic voting machine only records the indication that the voter has voted. Internal data shuffling and other security mechanisms ensure it is not possible to identify the candidates a voter has voted for, thus ensuring compliance with the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which determines the secrecy of the vote.

-       Processing of results: The voter appears at the polls from 8 am to 5 pm and performs his vote. From 5 pm the board member quits the vote by a password. The report of the urn is printed. The data is encrypted and digitally signed and stored in memory result. The data are transmitted to the data centers of the regional courts. Are decrypted, checked and totaled. The consolidated results are transmitted to the TSE that makes the general release.

Which electoral processes are using ICTs? -References:

 

When it was introduced

Last Updated : 2016-12-14

N/A

 

When it was introduced-References:

 

Gender equality

Last Updated : 2016-11-04

51 of 513 (10%) seats in the C?mara dos Deputados / Chamber of Deputies are held by women.

 

Gender equality-References:

 

Aids for disabled or handicapped voters

Last Updated : 2016-12-14

N/A

 

Aids for disabled or handicapped voters -References:

 

Voter education

Last Updated : 2016-08-19

Election time only

 

Voter education-References:

 

National civic education

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

EMB Staff education

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Domestic observation

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

International observation

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Partnerships/MoUs

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

International Activities

Last Updated : 2016-05-03

Major challenges to elections

Last Updated : 2016-08-12

? Major challenges to elections

       i.         Improve the biometric identification for all the voters

 

      ii.         Improve better logistics to operate anywhere:

A.     Indigenous village;

B.     Large urban center;

C.     Places under the influence of the organized crime ou adverse conditions

 

     iii.         Improve better method to serve everyone:

A.     Visually impaired, physical disabled people and patients;

B.     Total or functionally illiterate; Abroad citizens, elders, etc

 

? Measures taken to deal with those challenges

i.   Adoption of the National Civil Register

-Development of a multiuse card for different purposes

 

ii.  Development of new voting machines

-Smaller and lighter machines;

-Enhance transmission speed of the results;

-Internet votation for abroad electors.

 

 

Major challenges to elections-References:

 

Measures taken to deal with those Challenges

Last Updated : 2016-05-03