Last updated on December 17, 2013

In the initial design stage, the TSE feasibility commission determined the basic parameters of the new system. While the commission mostly consulted with stakeholders within the government, they also reached out to outside experts at several computer companies, including IBM, Hewlett Packard, ABC-Bull, CPM, Unisys, Microsoft, Digital and Soza International. Dr. Camarão also examined existing commercial systems and observed elections in the state of Virginia in the U.S., which employed electronic voting. The committee concluded that existing systems developed in other countries were insufficiently tailored to the requirements of the Brazilian elections, and consequently decided to seek a custom solution.

The initial requirements of the TSE committee for the electronic voting machine were as follows:

• Easy installation process
• Easy to operate, both by voter and poll worker
• Low cost and ability to be adapted to other uses
• Own source of energy so that external power sources would not be required
• Robustness to different weather conditions
• Machine should be controlled by poll workers to prevent multiple voting
• Machine should have attached printer to enable paper trail 
• Printer ballot should be collected automatically without any action by the voter
• Voting machine should not be connected to a network for security reasons
• Equipment should allow for future upgrades
• Screen should allow voter to verify their vote and be capable of presenting instructions
• Screen should display each candidate’s photo

Allow for ability of the voter to use an alphanumeric keyboard to select candidates; this requirement was later abandoned in favor of a purely numeric keyboard. The TSE thought that since knowledge of how to use telephone keypads was widespread, a numeric keypad would not pose any difficulties for the illiterate and semi-literate.

With regard to the procurement process, the initial requirements were as follows:

• Equipment needed to be provided with enough time to conduct a full battery of tests under diverse conditions.
• The company providing the machines had to have the technical and logistical capacity to fully meet the needs of the TSE.
• The contract would cover hardware provision, as well as technical support, logistical support and aid in distribution.

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Brazil: The Procurement Process