Panama City, March 3, 2004 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The consolidation of the voting system in Brazil and the success achieved by Brazilian technology in other countries on the American continent were the main themes of the first day of the II Inter-American Meeting on Election Technology, sponsored by the Organization of American States (OAS). The meeting was held in Panama City and ended yesterday (2).

Praised by presidents and delegates of Electoral Courts from all over South, North, and Central America, the Brazilian voting process was also the subject of a panel about "Applied Technology in Control and Supervision Procedures Exercised by Election Officials in Political Organizations."

One of the speakers was Minister Fernando Neves, rapporteur of instructions for this year's municipal elections, in which 120 million voters are expected to participate. He informed that the success of elections in Brazil is basically due to technology. "Without the assistance of the informatized system, the computers, and the technical specialists, it would not be possible to carry out this task successfully, just as it would not be possible to hold elections in Brazil with the speed and security to which we are accustomed and which society demands nowadays," Naves pointed out.

With regard to campaign financing, the Minister said that it is up to the political parties to set spending limits for their candidates and that, once these limits have been communicated to the Electoral Courts, they can only be altered with the authorization of electoral court officials. (DAS)