VOTER'S BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a truly democratic voting system, the security of the balloting is one of the pillars for the effective exercise of citizenship. In order to guarantee this right, the Brazilian Electoral Justice has developed several technologies.

Among them, there is the development of biometric ballot boxes that will process the vote through the voter's biometric identification. The Brazilian Electoral Justice's mission is to provide Brazilians with a safest future for democracy and to lead Brazil into the technological vanguard of electoral processes in the entire world.

The new technology is already to be used in the 2008 elections. The electronic ballot box with biometric reader will be tested in three municipalities from three different regions of the country (North, Midwest and South).

From March 3rd to April 1st, 2008, almost 50 thousand voters were registered in what will become one of the most advanced and precise databases in the planet. Through this system, the country will not only have the most computerized voting, but also the safest one, since there will no longer be any doubts about the voter's identity.

For a better understanding on the level of security reached, one should remember that one fingerprint is enough to identify a person. Still, the new system will register images of all the fingers in one's hands.

Besides, each voter is photographed digitally. The confirmation of the voter's identity is automatic, through a simple reading of their fingerprint.

To prevent problems in case the voting board representative has any doubts regarding the voter, or their fingerprint is not recognized by the biometric system, the representative has a list with the photographs of all the voters of that section, where they can verify the voter's identity.

The goal of this biometric registration is to eliminate the possibility of someone taking someone else's place to vote, making it practically impossible for frauds to be committed during the voting procedure.

The expectation is that, within ten years, all the states of the country will have ballot boxes with biometric readers. The Brazilian Electoral Justice takes another great step toward the consolidation of the citizens' rights.