REVIEW - Pro-Bolsonaro Protesters Across Brazil Rally For Paper Ballots In 2022 Elections

In 24 out of 26 Brazilian states, President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters took to streets to push for changes in the electronic voting system that has long been slammed by the incumbent leader, who seeks re-election in 2022

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 02nd August, 2021) In 24 out of 26 Brazilian states, President Jair Bolsonaro's supporters took to streets to push for changes in the electronic voting system that has long been slammed by the incumbent leader, who seeks re-election in 2022.

In Rio de Janeiro, some 3,000 protesters marched on Sunday along Copacabana beach, many without masks and wearing yellow-and-green flag colors. In Brasilia and Sao Paulo, Bolsonaro projected videos in which he reiterated his warning that election in 2022 may not be held unless it are conducted in a "clean and democratic" way.

"The agenda is absolutely fundamental. I think people should be confident of election integrity. There is no reason why we do not grant this confidence to the people," former Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo said at a rally in Brasilia.

BOLSONARO SEEKS MIXED ELECTORAL SYSTEM

In 1996 Brazil became the first country to introduce an electronic voting system, which has been used since 2000 as the only voting method in the country. The system allows electors to come to voting stations and cast their ballots electronically.

Bolsonaro advocates a mixed system in which ballots will be printed out after people vote electronically so that the count was fairer, since paper ballots are more auditable. The Brazilian leader claims the 2018 electoral fraud prevented him from winning the election without a runoff.

Early in July, Bolsonaro sparked controversy again by stating that "Either there are clean elections or there are no elections." The Superior Electoral Court assessed this claim as an attempt to impede elections.

"Any action aimed at impeding election violates constitutional principles and represents a crime," Luis Roberto Barroso, the head of the Superior Electoral Court, stated, adding that the electronic voting system is "not only fair but also provided the alternation in power.

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A Congressional committee will vote this week on a bill proposing a constitutional amendment to the voting system, which will introduce printed ballots alongside electronic ones.

BOLSONARO UNDER MOUNTING PRESSURE

Meanwhile, the president is facing an escalating pressure over his handling of COVID-19 pandemic and recent corruption allegations.

COVID-19 has killed over 556,000 people in Brazil in the world's second deadliest outbreak after the US, triggering mass protests in Brazil in favor of president's impeachment. Bolsonaro has long been a COVID-19 skeptic, labeling COVID-19 a "little flu" and ignoring the mask mandate.

Alleged irregularities in the government's coronavirus vaccine procurement process added to president's woes. Bolsonaro is under investigation by the Federal prosecutors over a deal on vaccine supplies from India. A contract for 20 million vaccine doses purchase from India's Bharat Biotech was negotiated hastily with irregularities in the process and a $45 million upfront payment to a Singapore-based company, raising corruption claims.

Opposition politicians and experts blame Bolsonaro for borrowing tricks from ex-US President Donald Trump's playbook. Trump claimed for weeks that the November 2020 US presidential race that he lost to Joe Biden was tainted by widespread fraud.

"Bolsonaro's comments on the elections are part of a strategy to erode confidence in the electoral system and to facilitate a possible challenge of the results if he does not win," Oliver Stuenkel of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a Brazilian think tank, explained.

Public support for Bolsonaro has dropped, giving momentum to his potential opponent in 2022 presidential race and current polls favourite, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazilian former president, who regained his political rights in March this year after his corruption conviction was overturned.