The Organization of American States (OAS) observer mission released today (3) the partial report of the follow-up to the first round of the elections. In the document, observers concluded that the elections took place with order and normality. 
“The mission salutes the people of Brazil, who attended the vote yesterday, Sunday [2], to express their will in a peaceful and democratic manner. In a context of high tension and polarization, Brazilian citizenship demonstrated maturity and civic commitment”, said the entity.
In the report, observers also pointed out the problems encountered by voters, who faced queues to vote at polling stations in several states. 455 sections were visited in 15 states.
Observers reported difficulties in identifying voters using biometrics and poll workers who asked all voters to sign the voting book. According to the mission, the signature should be collected only in the case of those who had not previously registered their biometrics or who had difficulty in recognition.
“OAS observers reported from the polling centers a large turnout of voters, most of whom had information about the location of their polling stations. During the afternoon, 91% of the polling stations observed had long lines of voters, some of whom reported having waited for more than two hours to be able to exercise their suffrage”, said the entity.
Yesterday (2), the president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Minister Alexandre de Moraes, said that the queues may have been caused by the increase in the 7.5 million voters who started to choose a candidate and did not vote blank or null. , the change that allowed the voter to have an extra second on the ballot screen to confirm the candidate of their choice before confirming the vote and failures in the recognition of the biometric reading.
According to the minister, the problems will be analyzed for the second round, which will be held on October 30th.
The OAS mission will continue in Brazil and will also do observation work in the second round.
The participation of international observers in the elections, through invitation by the TSE, was used in other elections in the country. In 2018 and 2020, OAS missions also monitored the voting.
