ICT and Citizens’ Trust in Government: Lessons from Electronic Voting in Brazil

This 13-page paper, presented at the 9th International Conference on Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, São Paulo, Brazil, discusses concerns about Latin American citizens’ low degree of trust in democratic government institutions and the possibility of e-government programmes remedying the perceived problem of trust. This research set out to study the question of citizens’ trust in Brazil’s electronic voting as a representation of trust in political institutions.


From the introduction:

"...[W]e describe the electronic voting system and its government institutional setting and broader social context and present an assessment of its role on the election process and its results. In the discussion section that follows we use our analytical concepts to unravel the way this technology innovation may be associated with changes in the Brazilian citizens’ attitude of trust in elections and in democratic government at large. Finally, in the conclusions we draw some answers to the question whether and under what conditions e-government can be a mechanism for restoring citizens’ trust in government institutions."


The authors conclude that there is evidence that the electronic voting system is contributing to a general attitude of trust in the voting part of the Brazilian elections, partly justified by the "trustworthiness merits of the electronic system. Two other factors seem to be implicated in this attitude of trust, namely a general predisposition of trust towards information and communication technology (ICT) and the perceived trustworthiness" of the Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE) and the Regional Electoral Courts (TRE – Tribunal Electoral Regional). Two behavioural indications suggest trust in the elections process: lack of disputes of election results and increases of valid votes. (Because voting is compulsory, a way to show protest or distrust of the system is to enter an invalid vote.)


The factors which engender this trust, as stated here, are:

• ease of use of the voting machine - unambiguous presentation of voting options, confirmation and cancellation procedures, pictures of candidates and Braille coding on the buttons to secure universal access including illiterate and blind people.
• efficiency of voting - the fast and un-crowded voting experience, which also frees judges from overseeing each station and allows them to look for other potential types of electoral fraud, such as political parties influencing the voting choices at the vicinity of the voting stations.
• efficiency of vote counting - and therefore the speed in announcement of the election results.

There is some contention over the "sealed" nature of the system, which is a security measure, but does not allow for a log that can be checked by impartial observers in the way a paper log could be checked. Voter identification is also considered unsatisfactory. The TSE is considering using an identification system, possibility fingerprinting.


The authors conclude that trust in ICT as a modernising and facilitating means for government and the economy is widespread. Existing trust in the TSE and the TREs complements the technical trustworthiness of the electronic voting system and the procedures for its auditing. From the authors' perspective,"[t]he TSE is a competent and powerful actor in the political system of the country. It is actively cultivating trust in the election system by demonstrating the electronic system through television and school education, and creating publicity about the preparation of the electronic elections. The TSE, already very powerful in ...Brazilian politics, has boosted its legitimacy by modernizing elections through a domestically made trustworthy technology that is highly praised internationally and is now transferred to other countries. At the same time, its own trustworthiness is a necessary element for fraud-free use of the electronic system."