In the quiet city of Geneva, Switzerland, local police had to intervene to prevent a physical confrontation between Brazilian voters.
- Vote counting for the 2022 Election: follow the results on UOL
After the voting was over, supporters of Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva placed themselves in front of the voting section, awaiting the results. If both sides sang the National Anthem for a few minutes, the provocations and curses did not last long.
It was heating up, until a commotion started. While the Bolsonarista camp shouted “communists” to former President Lula’s voters, security guards at the scene immediately entered the scene to separate the groups.
Police had previously been called twice to thwart attempts by Bolsonaro supporters to distribute campaign materials at the department’s door.
The events were recorded in various European cities such as Lisbon. But the biggest challenge for Brazilians was the waiting time to vote. Queues swirled around the blocks in some capitals, while many waited more than three hours before they could vote.
Fearing the violence, Brazilian authorities expanded security measures in some of the main polling stations abroad.
Image: Jamil Chad/UOL
But Itamaraty’s decision to reduce the number of places Brazilians can vote in presidential elections has taken thousands of Brazilians by surprise. On the grounds that consultations were held with the country’s consulates abroad, the government decided to cancel the branch organization. The decision infuriated Brazilians, especially in Italy.
The decision was considered an even more controversial act when the Supreme Electoral Court found that there was a significant increase in the number of Brazilian voters abroad compared to 2018.
In 2022, there are 697,078 female voters able to vote abroad, which is 40% more than four years ago. The volume is nearly double that of Brazil’s voters in 2014, with 354,000 signed up to vote at the time.
Even so, the government’s decision was to reduce voting places compared to what existed in 2018.
With UOLItamaraty announced that in the presidential elections held 4 years ago, 33 ballot boxes were opened in different municipalities than the cities where Brazilian Embassies and Consulates are located. 22 of the 33 “outside headquarters” held in 2018 were opened for the first time,” he said.
After consulting the posts, Itamaraty found that the experience at 16 locations was rated negatively by the posts, and as a result, its repetition was not recommended.
source: Noticias
