This Tuesday (5th) the deadline for national entities, civil society organizations and higher education institutions, public or private, to register with the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), to integrate the Electoral Observation Mission for this year’s general elections . The public call notice, with information on accreditation, was published in April.
For accreditation, it is necessary to fill out a form and the proper digital protocol in the TSE Electronic Information System (SEI digital protocol). The activities can be carried out until December 19, the date established by the electoral calendar for the diplomacy of the people elected in October.
According to the Court, interested parties must be legally constituted for at least one year before the date of the elections and must demonstrate the experience, structure and technical capacity necessary for electoral observation work.
According to the TSE, the Observation Missions “are intended to contribute to the improvement of the electoral process, increase transparency and integrity, as well as strengthen public confidence in elections, with the objective of observing compliance with national norms; collaborate for social control in the different stages of the process; and verify the impartiality and effectiveness of the organization, direction, supervision, administration and execution of the different phases of the claim”.
They were regulated by TSE Resolution No. 23,678/2021. In the case of national ones, the missions “cover the systematic procedure for monitoring and evaluating elections, carried out independently by entities, civil society organizations or national higher education institutions duly accredited by the Court.
The TSE is used to receiving foreign missions, composed of members of international organizations and institutions, who come to the country to follow the final stages of the election preparation process and the days of voting and the aggregation of results. In 2022, this work can also be done by Brazilians after a pilot project, carried out in the 2020 municipal elections, with the participation of Transparência Eleitoral Brasil.
The initiative aims to give even more publicity to the Brazilian electoral process, in line with best international practices, according to one of the recommendations made by the Organization of American States (OAS) to the TSE in 2018. The intention is to demonstrate, in addition to unrestricted transparency, the smoothness, security and integrity of the Brazilian electronic voting system.
*With information from the TSE