Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters protested against Brazil’s electoral system

Thousands of people demonstrated this Sunday in Brazil in support of President Jair Bolsonaro and for protest against the electronic voting system in force since 1996.

In Rio de Janeiro, around 3,000 people marched on Copacabana Beach, most without masks and dressed in yellow and green, the colors of the Brazilian flag.

“What we want is for the votes to be recounted publicly, for there to be more transparency, because there have already been suspicions of fraud“Ronaldo Calvalcante, a 46-year-old man demonstrating in Rio, told AFP.

President Bolsonaro, who is seeking re-election in 2022, is not asking that the ballots be returned, but rather that a receipt be printed after each vote in the electronic ballot box, so that they can be physically counted.

For analysts, what the far-right leader does is prepare the ground to challenge the outcome in case of defeat, as former US President Donald Trump did, of which Bolsonaro is a fervent admirer.

The president did not participate directly in the demonstration, which also gathered several thousand people in Brasilia, but gave a speech by videoconference in which he recalled that would not accept elections that are not “fair and democratic”.

He added that he will do “whatever is necessary” to mandate the printing of paper receipts for electronic voting.

In the afternoon, he also addressed thousands of protesters gathered in Sao Paulo, the country’s largest city.

“The will of the people must prevail. I hope that after this demonstration it will become a fact in Brasilia “he said, referring to the vote scheduled for Thursday in the legislative committee on a bill to approve the printing of paper receipts by electronic ballot boxes.

frauds

On Thursday, during his weekly Facebook Live, the head of state spoke for more than two hours on his conviction that there had been fraud in the last two presidential elections, specifying that he should have won in the first round in 2018.

Corn presented no evidence of these scams, while the Higher Electoral Court (TSE) ensures that the current system is completely transparent and has never been marred by irregularities.

Three weeks ago, Bolsonaro had already sparked controversy by sowing doubt on the holding of the 2022 elections. “Either we hold proper elections in Brazil or there will be no elections“, He said.

He called TSE president Luis Roberto Barroso a “fool”, who believes that printing paper receipts could expose the vote “to the risks of manipulation of the past”.

“Strictly electronic voting is theft! Voting with printed receipts is not complicated, people will adapt“Said Roxana Guimaraes, a 45-year-old nurse, during one of the demonstrations this Sunday.

Last weekend, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Brazil to demand the impeachment of President Bolsonaro, widely criticized for his handling of the covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more than 550,000 lives in the country.

(With information from AFP)

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