Brazil's Voting Machines Keep No Paper Trail - Can Voters Still Trust Them in 2026?

BRAZIL · ELECTIONS

Key Facts

—Largest paperless vote: Brazil is the biggest democracy on earth that records every ballot on an electronic machine and keeps no paper copy the voter can check, across roughly 156 million registered voters.

—The trust split: A Genial/Quaest poll in February 2026 found 53% of Brazilians trust the machines and 43% do not. Among 2022 Bolsonaro voters, distrust rose to 69%.

—No proven fraud: Since the machines arrived in 1996, no audit has found evidence that a single vote was flipped. That includes the 2022 review commissioned by Bolsonaro’s own Defence Ministry.