With No Evidence, Bolsonaro Challenges Brazilian Municipal Elections Count

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After a few of his sponsored candidates succeeded in the municipal elections, President Jair Bolsonaro once again challenged the reliability of Brazil’s electoral system. On Monday, November 16th, the President again lobbied for the use of printed ballots, arguing that a system is required that “leaves no room for doubt” or “room for assumption”.

“We need to have a counting system that leaves no room for doubt. That is all. It must be reliable and fast, it must leave no room for assumptions,” he said. Subsequently, Bolsonaro mentioned being unaware of the use of the Brazilian electoral system, ascertained through electronic voting, in other world countries.

“I have a proposal, I had it. The Supreme Court said that the printed vote is unconstitutional. (But) there is a proposal to amend the Constitution in the Chamber. If we don’t have a reliable way to determine the elections, the doubt will always remain and we must serve the population,” he said.

The President said the demand for changes in the country’s electoral system comes from the “people”. “Many people talk, some talk without listening to the people, without leaving their offices. In my case, I am always listening to the population. They want a counting system that may take a little longer but that guarantees that their vote really reaches that person. That’s all,” he declared.

Delay

In this year’s elections, there was a delay in the counting of votes shortly after the end of the process caused by a problem in computer processors, according to the head of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Justice Luis Roberto Barroso. According to the TSE, the full vote tally is traditionally completed only on the Monday following the vote, with the counting of votes from locations of difficult access.

Despite the delay, Barroso dispelled suspicions about the possibility of defrauding results. According to him, fraud is not possible because the results in each ballot box are printed on a ballot paper at the end of the vote, posted at the polling station, and distributed to political parties.

Earlier, Vice-President Hamilton Mourão, in another statement contrasting with Bolsonaro, had commented that the Brazilian electoral process was “very good, without a doubt.” Last week, Bolsonaro had said, with no evidence, that the voting system in Brazil was not “solid” and that it was “susceptible to fraud”. In earlier statements, Bolsonaro has advocated the return of the printed ballot for the 2022 elections.

In a conversation with supporters on Monday, Bolsonaro even apologized for feeling unwell after a poor night’s sleep and refused to record videos and messages with the group waiting for him outside the Alvorada Palace. “Please, I don’t want to record anything. I’m not feeling well today, I’m sorry, I went to sleep now”, he justified. The President also replied to a comment from a supporter who said the North region “is greatly affected”.

“You mention the affected region, but the people there choose their fate,” answered Bolsonaro. He then mentioned that São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are “deciding their fate”, as well as Porto Alegre. Then, Bolsonaro ended the conversation with supporters thanking them and apologizing once again.

Sunday’s results showed that few candidates supported by the President were either elected or reached the second round. In São Paulo, Celso Russomanno of the Republicanos party came in fourth place and did not reach the second round. In Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella of the Republicanos had Bolsonaro at his side and is running in the second round.

In Porto Alegre, despite not having a candidate, Bolsonaro has been criticizing the support given to Manuela D’Ávila of PCdoB (Communist Party of Brazil), who will run in the second round. As Estadão/Broadcast showed, only seven of the 45 candidates for city council who featured in the President’s social media “free election time” were elected. Among Mayors, in addition to Crivella, only another name endorsed by Bolsonaro moved to the second round run-off election: Capitão Wagner (PROS), in Fortaleza.

Source: Estadão Conteúdo

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