Head of electoral court refuses lawsuit questioning ballot boxes

The head of Brazil´s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), justice Alexandre de Moraes, decided to refuse the request made by the Liberal Party, questioning votes from the second round of elections held on October 30.

Moraes refuted the technical issues raised by President Jair Bolsonaro's party. The party did not make the addition of alleged irregularities in the first round, and did not present evidence to justify the establishment of extraordinary verification of the counting of votes, he explained.

According to the minister, all ballot box models are identifiable by physical and electronic mechanisms. Moraes also said the argument that there would have been a violation of the secrecy of the vote by means of the registration of voters' names in the ballot box logs is "fraudulent".

In his dispatch, the justice also stated it is "totally possible to trace the electronic ballot boxes", and the arguments are "absolutely false".

"The total bad faith of the plaintiff in his outrageous and illicit request, ostensibly threatening the democratic rule of law and carried out inconsequently with the aim of encouraging criminal and anti-democratic movements that, including serious threats and violence, has been blocking several roads and highways throughout Brazil, was proven, both by the refusal to add to the initial petition and the total absence of any evidence of irregularities and the existence of a totally fraudulent narrative of the facts," Moraes said.

As part of his decision, Alexandre de Moraes convicted the Coalition for the Good of Brazil, which supported Bolsonaro's candidacy in this year's elections, for bad faith litigation and imposed a fine of BRL 22.9 million. He also ordered the suspension of transfers from the Party Fund for the coalition until the fine is paid.

Finally, the magistrate determined that the decision should be sent to the Internal Affairs Office of the Electoral Justice, so that the conduct of the PL head, Valdemar de Costa Neto, can be evaluated. The purpose is to investigate responsibility for the alleged "purpose of disrupting the Brazilian democratic regime.”

After Moraes` dispatch, PL informed in a statement that the party has asked its legal counsel to analyze the court´s decision. "PL reiterates it has followed what is foreseen in Article 51 of the Electoral Law that obliges the parties to carry out an inspection of the electoral process," the statement reads.