Jar Bolsonaro.Photo: Getty Images
- A Brazilian newspaper reported that a former army general had stated that the 2022 election would not be held unless printed ballots were used.
- Earlier, President Jair Bolsonaro (Jair Bolsonaro) accused the country’s electronic voting system of being vulnerable to fraud.
- Bolsonaro is pushing to replace the system with printed ballots.
Major Brazilian politicians lined up on Thursday to emphasize that next year’s presidential election will definitely be held after a blockbuster news report said that the Brazilian Defense Minister threatened to hold a highly polarized vote.
Estado de S. Paulo quoted an anonymous source as saying that former Army General Defense Secretary Walter Braga Neto told the Speaker of the House of Representatives Arthur Lira through an interlocutor that the 2022 election would not be held unless printed ballots were used. . Reuters was unable to independently verify this story.
Both Lira and Braga Neto denied the report, which angered the political class in Brazil.
Previously, President Jair Bolsonaro (Jair Bolsonaro) repeatedly publicly and baselessly accused Brazil’s electronic voting system of being vulnerable to fraud. After Bolsonaro oversaw the world’s second deadly coronavirus outbreak, his reputation declined. He is pushing to replace the system with printed ballots, but the bill has not received much support in Congress.
Critics say Bolsonaro, like his idol, former US President Donald Trump, is sowing election doubts, paving the way for him not to accept any losses. Opinion polls show that he is behind the former left-wing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, although none of them has officially announced their candidacy.
After Estado de S. Paulo’s story, Lira wrote in a tweet that Brazilians will vote in “secret and sovereign” elections next year. His Senate colleague Rodrigo Pacheco also assured Brazilians that the 2022 election will be conducted through printed or electronic ballots.
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Brazilian Vice President and former Army General Hamilton Morao also stated that it is “logical” to hold a vote next year.
He says:
Who will ban elections in Brazil? We are not a banana republic.
Braganetto said at an event in Brasilia that the armed forces are committed to democracy and freedom.
In a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense on Thursday, Braga Neto stated that “discussions on auditable electronic voting through printed certificates are legal” and added that he believes that “all citizens want the election process to have the greatest Transparency and legitimacy”.
The president of Brazil’s Federal Electoral Court, Luis Roberto Barroso, stated that he had spoken to Braga Netto and Lira, and they both “categorically” denied the newspaper Reports.
Joao Caminoto, the news director of the media group that runs Estado de S. Paulo, defended the newspaper’s report on Twitter. He wrote: “I think it is important to fully reiterate the contents of the published report.”
Election threat
Bolsonaro has said that he may not accept the results of the 2022 election using electronic voting.
Earlier this month, Bolsonaro said:
There will be printed ballots, because if there is no printed ballots, there is no sign of elections. The message is clear.
The story of Estado de S. Paulo resonated in Brazil, and the coup in 1964 led to 21 years of military rule.
“In democratic countries, it is not the military that decides whether to hold an election, but the constitution they vowed to defend and abide by,” said Marcelo Ramos, deputy speaker of the House of Commons and legislator, in a report. .
The Brazilian Election Court has repeatedly denied that the system is vulnerable to fraud or evidence of fraud in previous elections, and Bolsonaro has not yet provided evidence to support his claims.
