*  i live in brasil and was an election observer for their 2002 general election.  they use an electronic touch screen that also gives a paper record and a recorded diskette.  i was amazed at the ease of use and the redundancies to ensure that votes are counted correctly and can be audited.  in that election the polls closed about 8pm.  all votes were counted with 4-5 hours, even from remote towns in the amazon.

*  i hope either you or someone else as interested will contact the brasilian electoral authorities and find out more about the machines.  they cost about $500 each and each polling place had a couple of spares.

*  we don't need a repeat of the 2000 coup d'etat.