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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Demonstrators participate in a protest for democracy and free elections and in opposition to Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, at Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil, August 11, 2022. The signal on the inflatable digital voting machine reads “Respect
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By Anthony Boadle and Ricardo Brito
BRASILIA (Reuters) – As President Jair Bolsonaro lays the groundwork to contest a possible defeat in an October election, Brazil’s courts, congressional management, enterprise teams and civil society are closing ranks to shore up belief within the integrity of the vote.
Even leaders of the armed forces, now extra entwined in authorities than at any level since a 1964-1985 army dictatorship, provide personal assurances to former friends that they need no half in disrupting democratic order, in response to a half dozen former officers with shut ties to army management.
The result’s a far-right populist firebrand trailing within the polls with few institutional levers to derail the electoral course of – however sufficient hardcore supporters to fill the streets with offended demonstrations if he cries foul as many anticipate.
“One factor is for certain about this election: President Bolsonaro will solely settle for one outcome – victory. Another outcome might be contested,” stated Camilo Caldas, a constitutional legislation professor at St. Jude College in Sao Paulo.
When pressed in interviews, Bolsonaro says he’ll respect the election outcome so long as voting is “clear and clear,” with out defining any standards.
Many imagine that leaves room for turbulence after the vote. Electoral officers warn of an rebellion impressed by the invasion of the U.S. Capitol in Washington final 12 months if Bolsonaro loses to leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as polls recommend.
For greater than a 12 months, Bolsonaro has insisted to his base with out proof that the polls are mendacity, Brazil’s digital voting system is open to tampering, and Supreme Court docket justices overseeing elections might rig the vote in Lula’s favor.
Even considered one of Bolsonaro’s marketing campaign advisers, who requested anonymity to talk freely, couldn’t rule out violent post-election demonstrations if the president challenges the outcomes: “Bolsonaro is completely unpredictable. There may very well be bother.”
Bolsonaro has proven he can simply mobilize tens of 1000’s of supporters, as he did at Independence Day rallies this month. Demonstrators cited the large crowds as proof that opinion polls are skewed and electoral fraud is Lula’s solely hope.
“If Lula wins, you may be certain there was main fraud and folks might be actually upset,” stated retired naval captain Wilson Lima, an organizer of the Bolsonaro rally in Brasilia. “An offended inhabitants will run amok. God is aware of what can occur.”
Decided to keep away from that, main Brazilian establishments have spent the previous 12 months making an attempt to get forward of Bolsonaro.
Congress voted down his push for a return to paper ballots. Election officers created a “transparency fee” with tech specialists, civic teams and authorities organs to assessment safety measures and endorse finest election practices. A report variety of overseas observers are coming to observe the vote.
Enterprise leaders have additionally penned public declarations of their religion within the electoral system. Supreme Court docket Justice Jose Antonio Dias Toffoli informed journalists in Sao Paulo that the enterprise group understood a break with democracy could be “financial suicide,” given the chance of sanctions from Europe and different Western powers.
Allies comparable to the USA have additionally signaled each publicly and privately what they anticipate from the second-largest democracy within the Western Hemisphere.
The director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Company, Invoice Burns, final 12 months informed Bolsonaro’s senior aides that he ought to cease casting doubt on Brazil’s digital voting system, Reuters reported in Could.
Worldwide election specialists have praised Brazil’s digital voting machines for ending widespread fraud within the tabulation of paper ballots earlier than 1996, with no instances of fraud detected since then regardless of Bolsonaro’s accusations.
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The difficulty has unsettled many in Washington who see Bolsonaro following within the steps of former President Donald Trump, whose baseless allegations of fraud within the 2020 U.S. election have been echoed by the Brazilian chief even after the Capitol invasion.
Bolsonaro was one of many final world leaders to acknowledge President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. The Brazilian president has warned that the aftermath of Brazil’s election this 12 months may very well be worse than the fallout from that contested U.S. vote.
Nevertheless, whereas Trump was capable of unleash a blitz of lawsuits and political strain on elected officers chargeable for counting votes, voting in Brazil is run by federal electoral courts whose judges present no qualms about standing as much as Bolsonaro.
Specifically, Bolsonaro’s assaults on the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) and its head, Supreme Court docket Justice Alexandre Moraes, appear to have solely steeled the resolve of the choose and his colleagues.
Whilst Moraes has acted extra unilaterally than a few of his predecessors, he enjoys ample backing amongst fellow Supreme Court docket judges, in response to two folks acquainted with the establishment.
Bolsonaro has hurled abuse at Moraes for overseeing an investigation of his supporters, who allegedly unfold libel and misinformation on-line. Final 12 months, he known as Moraes a “criminal” and briefly refused to obey the choose’s rulings.
In Brasilia’s corridors of energy, nevertheless, uneasiness over the choose’s hardball ways has taken a again seat as his friends and most politicians current a united entrance in protection of the courts and the electoral course of.
When Moraes took the reins of the TSE final month, his speech praising the digital voting system was met with a standing ovation from an viewers that included 4 former presidents, some 20 present state governors and an array of social gathering leaders. Bolsonaro appeared on sternly with out applauding.
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Even the military officers tasked by Bolsonaro with digging into the alleged vulnerabilities of Brazil’s voting system have been happy with the openness of Moraes to their requests since he took over the TSE, in response to a senior army officer, who declined to be named as a consequence of army protocol.
Invited by the TSE to hitch its transparency fee, Brazil’s armed forces have taken an unprecedented function in probing the safety of the nation’s voting system.
Critics query the army’s prominence within the course of, particularly as its considerations have echoed Bolsonaro’s rhetoric about potential fraud. The president, a former military captain, has packed his cupboard with former army officers, whereas telling rallying supporters that the armed forces are “on our facet.”
Nevertheless, the armed forces appear to have stopped in need of organising a “parallel depend” on election night time as Bolsonaro has instructed. As an alternative, army representatives plan to make spot checks of voting machines, evaluating the paper readouts at a number of hundred voting stations with the outcomes despatched to the TSE server.
It’s an uncommon activity for the armed forces in Brazil’s younger democracy, however army brass insist it’s not an indication of political ambitions.
Former Protection Minister Raul Jungmann dominated out any danger of a coup, contrasting the nation immediately with Brazil in 1964: the army takeover that 12 months was brazenly supported by a lot of Brazil’s enterprise elites, center class households, church buildings and mainstream media – a far cry from the present surroundings.
“There isn’t any means army commanders will danger getting concerned in an journey,” stated a seasoned politician in common dialog with army chiefs.
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