Brazilian elections, parallel vote counting approved by Electoral High Court

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) approved the Defense Ministry’s proposal for an “integrity test” of electronic ballot boxes in the Oct. 2 presidential election.

The TSE judges unanimously decided Wednesday night to conduct a kind of parallel voting after voters cast their ballots in the electronic ballot boxes.

The proposal was made by the Minister of Defense, General Paulo Sergio de Oliveira, to the head of the TSE, Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who initially resisted the idea, saying that the electronic ballot boxes have never given rise to doubts and are a “national pride.”

On the other hand, Minister Oliveira has expressed reservations about the infallibility of the electronic system, as has the president and candidate for re-election, Jair Bolsonaro.

This “pilot” test will be carried out in up to 64 electronic ballot boxes with voters who volunteer to cast a controlling vote, and the results will be transmitted to Defense Ministry experts.

President Bolsonaro said Monday in an interview for a podcast produced for a young evangelical audience that he would accept a possible victory for his primary opponent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

On Tuesday, however, after a campaign rally in Sorocaba, in the interior of São Paulo state, the president said he would only hand over the presidential sash to his opponent if “clean elections” were held.

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