Bolsonaro party points out risks in ballot boxes; opens space for questioning the election

The Liberal Party, the acronym of president and re-election candidate Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party – PL), sent a report to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) on September 19 with questions about the security of the electoral process.

In the two-page document, the technical team hired by the party states that “only a restricted group of TSE servers and collaborators control all the source code” of the electronic ballot boxes.

“The framework of delay found at the TSE, regarding the implementation of minimum necessary information security measures, generates relevant vulnerabilities,” the party states in the report titled “Results of the PL’s Compliance Audit at the TSE.”

The PL’s representative for oversight of the electoral system and president of the Legal Vote Institute, Carlos Rocha, told Poder360 that the party recommended that the Court take precautionary measures and carry out what he called an “independent audit of the electronic ballot box’s operation”.

According to him, the president of the party, Valdemar Costa Neto, and minister Alexandre de Moraes met on Tuesday, September 27, and Wednesday, 28. On Tuesday, Rocha stayed out of the meeting.

“The objective of the PL is to collaborate constructively with the Electoral Justice. With this positive intention, an audience was scheduled with Minister Alexandre de Moraes to present the results and propose an independent audit of the electronic ballot box’s operation,” he said.

“We have been sending information and documents, since then, by e-mail. As we have not yet been received to present the work, a letter was sent on September 19 with the complete 130-page report,” said Rocha.

The text brings a series of criticisms of the TSE’s conduct in auditing the ballot boxes. Rocha points out that there are 7 zero scores in the TSE’s IT Governance and Information Security Management Self-Assessment Report and says that only 5% of the information security certification criteria are fully met.

“Without any external control, this creates, in the hands of a few technicians, an absolute power to manipulate election results, without leaving any trace. The necessary procedures to protect these PEPs (politically exposed persons) against irresistible coercion have not been found, generating another high risk,” Rocha said.

QUESTIONING THE ELECTIONS

Even though the document has an expository and suggestive character, the report sent by Rocha to the TSE is evaluated by allies of President Jair Bolsonaro as a foundation for a possible future questioning of the election result.

The text can be used politically to challenge the security of ballot boxes and the electoral process, which the president constantly criticizes.

In an interview on Jornal da Record, Bolsonaro said on Monday (September 26) that he intends to wait for the result to decide whether to recognize his opponent’s election. He did not want to say, once again, that he would accept the decision of the polls.

The Chief Executive said that the Court is “partial” and commits “political persecution” in its decisions.

“I don’t rule the TSE. There is no way to convince them. For example, I am forbidden to live inside my official house; I must go to someone’s house—political persecution. I can’t use the September 7 images in the electoral schedule. Why?” he said.

VALDEMAR AND MORAES

The PL leader visited the TSE’s vote tallying room on Wednesday in Brasilia, which observers can visit on election day.

Called the “secret room” by Bolsonaro, the space was presented by Moraes to representatives of the parties.

To journalists, Valdemar refuted the idea that the room was secret. “No. It no longer has a [secret room]. Now it is open,” he said.

Moraes’ initiative allowed representatives of political parties and observers of the election to get to know the space and the employees working there.

The visit was guided by the president of the Court and by the IT Secretary of the Court, Júlio Valente. They also answered questions from the visitors.

Defense Minister Paulo Sérgio Nogueira also visited the space. According to Valente, he “didn’t show any doubts”.

With information from Poder360