Electoral harassment is a crime and, since 2022, the number of complaints has only increased. To prevent a worker or public servant from suffering direct or indirect pressure from employers or immediate superiors to vote for a certain candidate, the union centers launched, this Tuesday (3), an application where it is possible for the worker to report this antidemocratic practice.
The launch is taking place in partnership with the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT). The initiative came from the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Força Sindical, Nova Central Sindical de Trabalhadores (NCST), União Geral dos Trabalhadores (UGT), Central dos Sindicatos Brasileiros (CSB), Pública, Intersindical and MPT. The complaint can be filed at Trade Union Forum page.
Paulo Oliveira, Secretary of Organization and Mobilization at the CSB, explained that workers will not need to download the app. The websites of the unions and the MPT will place the QR Code on their pages where workers, using their cell phones, can access the channel and report if they are being victims of electoral harassment in the workplace.
According to MPT prosecutor Priscila Moreto, electoral harassment often occurs in a subtle manner, when an employer argues that its employees should vote for a particular candidate because, in this way, the company will continue to grow. If the employee does not vote for the boss’s candidate, the employer says that there will be changes, if not layoffs. “This is one of the forms of electoral harassment,” she said.
The National Secretary of Legal Affairs of the CUT, Valeir Ertle, warns that electoral harassment is very strong in Brazil, especially because in 73% of the 5,700 municipalities, the population varies between 10 and 20 thousand inhabitants. “In these cities, it is very common for workers to know the employer’s preferred candidates, and the pressure for employees to vote for the indicated candidate is very strong. The same pressure, the harassment, occurs with city hall employees”, he said.
Free voting is a fundamental right that must prevail in all situations, according to labor prosecutor Danielle Olivares Corrêa, because otherwise, the worker becomes an instrument of the employer’s exclusive interests. Electoral harassment is a crime and the MPT will be attentive to any and all complaints received through the app.
In the 2022 elections, the trade unions and the MPT formed the same partnership as now, and the result was the receipt of 3,500 complaints of electoral harassment, a percentage 1,600% higher than that recorded in the 2018 elections.
Electoral harassment or “voto de cabresto” (voting under duress) is no longer seen in the country’s remote corners, where colonels determined which candidate or candidates employees should vote for. This phenomenon has grown and has also reached large urban centers. According to data extracted from the MPT’s computerized system, in 2022, 1,512 recommendations were issued and 105 public civil lawsuits were filed against electoral harassment.
The trade unions and the MPT have made booklets available to workers to help them identify illegal approaches in the workplace.
