Procomp subsidiary earns biggest deal in Diebold history
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Procomp Amazonia Industria Eletronica, the recently-acquired subsidiary of Diebold, Incorporated, has received the largest contract in Diebold's history.
Brazil?s Tribunal Superior Eleitoral (TSE), responsible for all elections throughout the country, has purchased 186,800 Procomp polling terminals and accessories, software development, installation, training, logistics and service. The order is valued at US $105.5 million.
"For Diebold, this is the largest single order in the company's 141-year history,? said Ernesto R. Unanue, Diebold corporate vice president and managing director for Latin America. ?More importantly, however, this will mark the first time in Brazilian history that 100 percent of voters, visiting more than 300,000 polling stations, will be able to cast their votes using advanced digital technology."
The technology is implemented by authorized personnel who load a database with voter and candidate information, including a photo of the candidate, into each voting terminal. Registered voters may then use the terminals by entering the number assigned to each candidate. They receive visual confirmation of their selection on the liquid crystal display and the vote is stored. At the end of the day, authorized personnel download the information to diskette, make a hard copy using a thermal printer and transmit votes to a central location to be tallied.
In addition to the more than 186,000 new machines, the TSE intends to use 90,000 machines Procomp supplied them for the 1998 national election, as well as 78,000 machines that Procomp upgraded in 1998. The new terminals will be manufactured and delivered between April and August 2000, when estimated daily production will reach 2,000 machines per day.
Elections for Brazilian mayors and city councils are scheduled for October, and any necessary run-off elections will take place in November. |