The Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, assured today (1st) that the federal and state police forces will act in an integrated manner in order to ensure that the general elections this Sunday (2nd) take place “with tranquility”.
“We will have secure elections. The people can go to the polls to vote with peace of mind”, said Torres when presenting the first results of the call to journalists. Operation Elections 2022launched last Monday (26) to curb illicit practices, guarantee the safety of voters and electoral justice officials and the integrity of the election.
“All the states sent their plans to the ministry, which consolidated all this data in order to make our own planning”, added the minister, explaining that it will be up to his portfolio to coordinate the efforts of federal public bodies and the 27 federative units that, together , will mobilize around 500,000 security agents. “Brazil, once again, is prepared for the election.”
Torres highlighted the difficulty of complying with the decisions of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) that restrict the circulation of weapons during this period. At the end of August, the plenary of the Court decided to ban the carrying of weapons within a radius of 100 meters from polling stations. Last Thursday (29), the court unanimously prohibited collectors, shooters and hunters (the so-called CAC’s) from carrying weapons and ammunition from today.
“This ban does not change anything in our planning, which was ready long before this ban,” said the minister, referring to the TSE’s initial decision, before commenting on the latest determination. “It is a very difficult rule to comply with. I think that before creating rules and difficulties, we have to be very careful. Imagine complying with this in more than 90 thousand voting points. Anyway, we will be attentive to that”, said Torres before add that “if there is a crisis”, the security forces of the states “will respond appropriately to prevent any type of violence”.
At the head of the operation, the secretary of Integrated Operations at the ministry, Alfredo Carrijo, explained that, in their operational plans, the states and the Federal District established that, as in other cases, the security forces’ personnel are on standby, in conditions of ready job. So are federal corporations, including the National Public Security Force.
“This does not mean that something will happen. In every election, the security forces do this. It is standard procedure”, said the secretary, reinforcing the minister’s message. “The elections will be secure. Citizens will be safe to vote and we hope that tomorrow will pass without further incidents.”
