The electoral tribunal stopped Bolsonaro’s maneuver | They officially declared that “there has never been a documented episode of electoral fraud”

Brazil’s Higher Electoral Tribunal (TSE) on Monday guaranteed the transparency of electronic voting in the country, questioned without evidence by President Jair Bolsonaro. The magistrates and former magistrates of the TSE since 1988 issued a joint declaration in defense of the current electoral system. “There has never been a documented episode of electoral fraud”, underlines the text which bears the signature of the current president of the TSE, Luis Roberto Barroso, and the vice-president, Edson FachinBoth are also Supreme Court magistrates and regular targets of Bolsonaro’s critics.

The statement is a strong response to the doubts expressed by Bolsonaro over the transparency of electronic ballot boxes and his insistence that the country resume the voting system with paper vouchers, which has been phased out since 1996. The Brazilian president even threatened to suspend next year’s elections as his government pushed for a constitutional amendment in Congress that proposes to keep electronic ballot boxes and that ballots also be used in parallel.. The possibility that the change will be approved does not seem close, especially since at least eleven political parties represented in the legislative chambers, including some from the base of Bolsonaro, have already advanced their opposition to the project. In any case, this Sunday thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia and São Paulo to support the position of the far-right leader.

“Free, safe and clean elections are the essence of democracy” and electronic ballot boxes, adopted over 20 years ago, “have succeeded in eliminating a past of electoral fraud that has marked the history of Brazil”says the press release signed by the president of the TSE, Luis Barroso. The note is also signed by Barroso’s 16 predecessors and Judge Alexandre de Moraes, the next TSE leader who will take office in 2022, shortly before the presidential elections scheduled for October of the same year.

Bolsonaro focuses attacks on electronic voting machines, seeking to demonstrate that only the printed vote can exercise the right to go to the polls. However, as indicated by the TSE, He is “It is not an adequate audit mechanism because it is less secure” and because it includes “risks derived from human manipulation and breach of confidentiality”.

“Manual public control of some 150 million votes will mean a return to the era of polling stations, the scene of widespread fraud”, we read in the text of the magistrates who also reminds Bolsonaro and his allies that “electronic voting machines can be audited at all stages of the process”. In addition, all these steps “can be accompanied by political parties, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Bar Association, the Federal Police” and independent observers.

The TSE has denied in recent days every claim that Bolsonaro has made during his usual face-to-face meetings with supporters and on social networks. Some officials of Brazil’s highest electoral body believe that “stopping these attacks is not enough”, so They do not exclude criminal actions against the president and his collaborators if they continue the attacks.

The history of fraud

For the president of Brazil, electronic ballot boxes are conducive to “frauds” which, according to him without any proof, have occurred during previous electoral processes, including the one that brought him to power in 2018. Many analysts believe Bolsonaro is laying the groundwork to challenge the outcome if he is beaten in 2022, as did former US President Donald Trump last year, whose Brazilian far right is a staunch admirer.

Bolsonaro’s pressure on e-voting increases as his positive image crumbles in the polls, which they already clearly see as the favorite for next year’s elections to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. “The one who wants dirty and undemocratic elections is Judge Barroso. This guy is showing himself as someone who cannot be criticized,” he said. Bolsonaro this Monday in a dialogue with supporters in front of the Alvorada Palace. The agent he again defended the theory that the president of the TSE acts to “arm” the election in favor of Lula.

“Barroso helps get Lula out of prison, makes him eligible. And will Barroso count his votes? What is the consequence?” asked Bolsonaro, who also clarified that the vote count would be done in a “secret room” of the TSE, a statement that had previously been denied by the highest electoral court. The president also directly attacked Lula in the show made this Monday noting it of “corrupt”, “drunk” and “incompetent”.

Lula chose to respond with a brief but direct message on his Twitter account. Citing an image shared by the Workers’ Party (PT) where he can be seen raising his thumb next to a voting booth, Lula said: “He knows how to lose and he knows how to win. He lost four elections and returned home to heal his wounds. He came back stronger and was elected President of the Republic for two terms. Stick with the example, Jair Bolsonaro. The people are tired of his mimimi (his complaints or tantrums) “.