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0 pointsspeeder10y ago0 comments

Brazil use machines that can be very easily hacked.

Also, the deviation in the last elections from the mathematically expected was about 4%...

But the end results was 51% vs 49% meaning that if the result went as expected, the 49% candidate would have won (with 53%).

So, in some situations is not that hard to cheat.

EDIT: also even when there is blatant cheating going on, nothing much can be done about it...

Example, during elections for a minor office in one of the smallest Brazillian states (Acre), the number of invalid votes, intentionally blank votes, and voters that didn't show was exact the same, and the total number of votes was higher than the number of voters.

The losing candidate sued, the government argued that "the computer counts, and thus a recount is not a valid request", and FINED the guy that sued.

And the whole argument stopped there.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

jzwinck10y ago· 1 in thread

It's true that a 49/51 split makes it easier to cheat undetected. But it also means the public was almost equally in favor of both candidates. When 98% of the electorate get their wish either way, it doesn't seem quite so important who wins.

tempestn10y ago

I think you mean 49%, not 98%.

burkaman10y ago

Yes, I do not mean to say that hacking an election is impossible, or that it's never happened. My only point, which is quite narrow, is that it would be difficult to hack a US presidential election by means of literally hacking voting machines. I do not know the Brazilian election system, but I believe it would be quite difficult to steal a US election in this way.

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