The assistant judge of the Vice-Presidency and Internal Affairs of the Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro (TRE-RJ), Rudi Baldi, informed that a significant portion of voters will be invited to put their fingerprints on the optical reader of the reception desk of the session on Sunday. (2), day of the first round of the Brazilian elections. The purpose is to try to validate the import of biometric data collected by external bodies such as, in the case of Rio de Janeiro, the State Department of Transit (Detran). According to the judge, if the fingerprints of these voters are recognized in this validation procedure, the data can be incorporated into the electoral register and thus voters will be exempted from directly collecting biometric data with the Electoral Court.
“We are talking about the number of 1.8 million voters, here in the state of Rio de Janeiro, who will be able to have their data validated in this procedure”, he said.
Assistant judge of the vice presidency and Regional Electoral Internal Affairs, Rudi Baldi speaks during the press conference on the elections, at the headquarters of TRE-RJ – Tânia Rêgo/Agência Brasil
“The most important thing is to clarify that biometrics is a security factor in the electoral process. It is through biometrics that electoral justice manages to ensure that the voter will not be able to vote in the place of another”, he added.
Baldi pointed out that this election has a greater degree of complexity, especially for voters who are not very familiar with the internet, because they will have to make five different choices. First, he will indicate in the ballot box the vote for federal deputy, then state deputy, followed by senator, governor and, finally, president of the Republic.
e-title
The voter who has an e-ticket with photo and biometric identification can use it as proof of voting. Even so, the judge recommended that you bring an official document with a photo in case you have any difficulty accessing the digital. The recommendation is also valid for voters who have already performed biometrics before. The voter’s presence at the session will be registered by placing the fingerprint on the optical reader of the polling station’s machine. Those who do not have the e-title will verify it by signing the voting book on the session table.
“The other voters who have not yet had their biometrics collected or imported from external bodies, and here we are talking about 5 million 567 thousand and 260 voters, for this electorate their presence in the session will be registered by signing the voting book, the system old one that we already know that is still valid. So we will have a hybrid voter presence system,” he highlighted.
Cell phones
The judge recalled that the ban on entering the voting booth with cell phones began in 2009 and is therefore not new to this election. As, according to him, in this election the spirits are more inflamed and especially in Rio de Janeiro there are many voters who live in areas controlled by organized crime, both militias and drug trafficking, the measure aims to protect these voters and, in general, the secrecy of the vote.
“Voting is secret in Brazil and if there were no such legal restriction, these criminal groups could pressure voters to vote for the candidates they prefer and coerce voters to later prove this order. This proof would be given precisely by registering the vote with a photograph of the screen of the ballot box”, she revealed.
“We ask for the voters’ collaboration in this regard, that they do not argue or argue with the poll workers, insisting on this issue of taking their cell phone or any device to the voting booth. The secretary is not to blame for this”, he recommended.
As this is a prohibition provided for by law, voters who refuse to leave their cell phones will not have the ballot box authorized by the polling station and will not exercise their right to vote. “If this voter continues to insist on taking their cell phone to the booth, preventing other readers from exercising their right to vote, this conduct could be characterized as an electoral crime and the poll worker will have to call the police,” he warned.
The voter will have the cell phone back after completing the voting in the booth. If the determination is not complied with and the use of the devices is noticed, the voter will be arrested and taken to a police station because it is an electoral crime. If you are not caught using it and then post a selfie or photo of the vote on social media, the Public Ministry can make a representation so that the voter is punished.
weapons
Baldi said there will be no metal detectors to prevent voters with guns from entering polling stations. According to him, the security perimeter is 100 meters around the polling place and no one can carry weapons in this space. The control will be done visually and for the security agents who are on duty in the elections, the orientation is that everyone work in uniform, even those who are civilians. “These agents will work with ostentatious clothing to allow the poll workers and other assistants to identify that he is a security agent and the fence is not valid for him. If anyone notices that the voter has violated the security perimeter and entered that place with weapons, all they need to do is report it to any inspector, supervisor or even the polling station who will initiate justice and that voter will be arrested in the act”, he commented.
Where to vote?
The judge recommended that the voter check in advance the polling place to confirm that it remains the same as in the previous claim. According to Baldi, the electoral justice made some changes to the locations. Verification can be done through the TRE-RJ or TSE website, by e-title and also by electoral duty on the phone (21) 34369000.
