The Brazilian president , Jair Bolsonaro, returned This Thursday to criticize the possible presence of international observers in the October elections, arguing that the current electronic voting system does not allow oversight.
“Are you going to observe what?” In his weekly program live on social networks, the leader of the Brazilian extreme right, an ardent critic of the electronic voting that was implemented in the country. It entered the country in 1995 and any fraud claim was never substantiated.
“They can bring a million observers. They are going to observe what? what? are you going to watch? Are they going to have access to the source code? Are they going to be in the secret room to see how the count goes? What knowledge do they have of computers?” he asked.
This week, the president of the Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and Supreme Court magistrate, Edson Fachin, announced ; the presence of 100 international observers in the general elections in October.
Bolsonaro, who will seek He is re-elected for a second term and appears in voting intention polls behind the favorite and former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Recently, a campaign was launched that requested the printed vote, as proof of suffrage.
In Brazil, the system is completely digital and a printed voter proof is not issued for manual accounting in case of voting. Failure or filing a complaint, a situation that was questioned by Bolsonaro and pro-government allies with mobilizations that did not have an effect before the Supreme Court and that lacked evidence.
According to Fachin, the mission would be made up of observers from the Organization of American States (OAS), the Mercosur Parliament, and the Electoral Network of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). , the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations (Uniore) and the Carter Center.
Representatives from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the Global Network for Electoral Justice will also be present, and a response is awaited from the European Union, which was also invited to send emissaries.< /p>
In his program, Bolsonaro ironically and claimed that it is necessary to discuss the security of electronic ballot boxes.
“Discussing (over) the ballot box is a crime. It is an act that is attacking the democratic rule of law, attacking democracy. He is a coup leader,” said the president in an affirmative tone, but with the intention of asking a question.
“I am not afraid of elections and I hand over the (presidential) sash to whoever wins with an auditable and reliable vote. In this way, we run the risk of not having elections,” he stressed.
According to the Metrópolis news portal, Bolsonaro has already acted on the Foreign Ministry to avoid the invitation. to the observers, which must be done through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On the other hand, in his statement on social networks, Bolsonaro that the federal government should cut by 10,000 million reais (about 2,000 million dollars) the budget of the ministries, a figure that can rise to 17,000 million reais (about 3,400 million dollars) with the readjustment.
The president said that this cut is to cover an “extra pantry” for the payment of compensation in which the State lost when he was sued and for the agriculture support plan.