Fearing the violence, Brazilian authorities expanded security measures in some of the main polling stations abroad. Paris, Lisbon and other European capitals were the target of a new security plan in the face of what observers pointed to as a risk of conflict between different groups of Brazilians abroad.
Long queues have already formed in the main capitals of the Old Continent and polling stations in other parts of the world this Sunday morning. In Zurich, voters had to wait more than three hours, while in Portugal and France queues filled the blocks.
For citizens living in cities where there is no voting place, the option was to take a Sunday off and go to the nearest place. “I will pay the equivalent of Auxílio Brasil to vote,” said a Brazilian from Friborg (Switzerland), traveling to Geneva.
There was no incident. Swiss police had to intervene to stop the distribution of Bolsonarists’ campaign t-shirts.
In addition to international observers in 15 Brazilian states, the OAS (Organization of American States) decided to deploy teams in Porto, Miami, and Washington to monitor Brazilian votes.
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 even more controversial, as the Supreme Electoral Court found that there was a significant increase in the number of Brazilian voters abroad compared to 2018. There are 697,078 female voters eligible to vote abroad in 2022, 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.
Itamaraty told UOL that in the presidential election four years ago, 33 ballot boxes were opened in municipalities different from 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
