Of those considering voting for Jair Bolsonaro (PL), 62% believe there is a possibility of fraud in electronic voting machines. Conversely, 73% of voters for Lula (PT), 76% of voters for Ciro Gomes (PDT) and 74% of voters for Simone Tebet (MDB) do not believe this could happen.

The numbers are part of the Campaign Thermometer, published this Saturday (3) by Ipespe in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Election Researchers (Abrapel). They were asked if the respondents believed the news about the possibility of fraud in the surveys. On average, 60% of voters said no, 40% said yes.

When asked if they had heard about the possibility of fraud before the poll, 73% of Lula voters, 69% of Bolsonaro voters and 78% of Ciro and Tebet voters answered no.

Even though the margin of error of each candidate’s answers is more than 3% of the poll average because they are smaller samples, there is still something wrong with the behavior of the presidential electorate relative to the other candidates. .

Bolsonaro campaigns against the electronic voting system and accuses it of fraud, although he has never provided evidence.

In the USA, Trump’s Fraud Leads to Invasion of Congress

In the United States, then-President Donald Trump attacked the electoral system and accused it of fraud. There, unlike what happens in Brazil, most of the voting is done using paper ballots. The distrust placed by the Republican prompted thousands of his followers to invade Congress on January 6, 2021, an action that resulted in five dead and wounded.

Nearly a year later, a poll by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the YouGov Institute found that 22% of voters believed Joe Biden’s victory was absolutely illegitimate and 11% possibly illegitimate, while 46% believed it was absolutely legitimate and illegitimate. revealed. probably legitimate.

Among Republicans, 71 percent, are skeptical of the legitimacy of Biden’s election. Thus, Donald Trump managed to cast doubt on his country’s electoral system and tore apart one of his oldest institutions with those who voted for him. He paid a great price to the Republic, guaranteeing fertile political terrain to retain his followers and run again in 2024.

41% of Bolsonaro voters believe someone is likely to close churches

In another question, the Ipespe/Abrapel survey asked respondents whether they believed reports that addressed the possibility that a candidate would close churches if elected.

For the top four candidates in the polls, the majority of voters said they didn’t believe it.

But while very few voters for Lula (11%), Ciro (5%) and Tebet (16%) believe in this possibility, this rate cannot be ignored among Bolsonaro voters: 41%.

On average, 78% say they don’t believe reports that mention this possibility, while 22% say they do. Bolsonaro voters’ views, both on this issue and on poll fraud, raise the average of the overall position based on disinformation.

The survey shows that 79% of Lula voters, 71% of Bolsonaro and Ciro voters, and 76% of Tebet voters have heard about the possibility that a candidate will close churches.

President’s allies spread the lie that Lula will close churches

Supporters and allies of Jair Bolsonaro are spreading the lie that if elected, former President Lula will cause the evangelical churches to be shut down. The main figure behind this is federal lawmaker and pastor Marco Feliciano (PL-SP).

On August 16, the first official day of the campaign, Bolsonaro personally reinforced the lie on his social media to avoid guaranteeing votes from evangelical voters:

“We have to be careful. From today, those who love red will wear green and yellow, those who persecute and defend the closure of churches will see themselves as great Christians, those who support and praise socialist dictatorships will say they are defenders of democracy,” he wrote.

The Ipespe/Abrapel poll points to Lula 44%, Bolsonaro 35%, Turnover 9% and Tebet 5% in the stimulated poll. Among women, the PT has an advantage of 49% to 39% over the current president, while among men Bolsonaro is appointed by 41% and Lula by 29%.