Brazil Elections: Jair Bolsonaro Continues to Sow Doubts on Election as He Lags in Polls

Brazil's far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro, is having some problems in his bid for reelection. He is currently trailing behind former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, in the polls, with the elections heating up.

This has resulted in the spread of already-debunked claims regarding the vulnerabilities of Brazil's electronic voting system. Bolsonaro reportedly tried spreading those debunked claims once again.

According to the Associated Press, Bolsonaro invited dozens of diplomats to the presidential palace on Monday to present his claims. However, he did not again present any evidence for his claims.

The act of inviting the diplomats over has drawn criticism from members of the country's electoral authority, as well as analysts who fear he may be trying to reject the election results should he lose.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro Presented Already-Debunked Claims of Election Fraud

The Washington Post reported that Brazil's state TV aired his presentation to the diplomats. The presentation lasted for almost one hour, and he cited a federal police report about alleged hacking into the electronic voting machines.

Reports said this was all to undermine Brazil's electoral authority, which had already debunked the president's claims. According to the election authority itself, investigators have never relayed any indication of fraud in the machines.

They also pointed out that since Brazil started electronic elections, they never found any evidence of widespread fraud. Among Bolsonaro's other claims was that he was denied outright victory in the first round of the 2018 presidential elections.

The president claimed there was no need for a runoff and had proof. However, the Associated Press noted that he did not present any evidence of it during his televised presentation to the diplomats.

According to Reuters, Bolsonaro also criticized the country's Supreme Court justices, some of who are also members of the national election authority. He claimed that some of them owed favors to his political rival, Lula, and claimed that they did not want a transparent electoral system.

Brazil Electoral Authority Debunked Jair Bolsonaro's Claims After His Presentation

According to Brazilian media, approximately 70 diplomats attended Jair Bolsonaro's presentation, including "dozens" of ambassadors. However, the Brazilian government did not provide any concrete number of how many actually attended.

Immediately after the presentation, Brazil's election authority issued a statement and again presented evidence to debunk many of Bolsonaro's claims.

The current head of Brazil's Electoral Authority, Supreme Court Justice Luiz Edson Fachin, claimed in a separate event that one public figure is spreading "unacceptable electoral denialism."

He added that the person made some very serious allegations of fraud about the elections but is not presenting any evidence. He did not state whether or not that person was Bolsonaro.

Brazil's Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco commented on the president's claims. He said the country's Congress members were all elected with the current and modern electronic system.

Therefore, they were obliged to tell Brazilians that these machines would give a trustworthy result. Otherwise, it might cast doubts about their own election into that position.

Because of this, Pacheco said the "fairness of the electoral process can no longer be put in doubt." He added that there was no just cause or reason for Bolsonaro questioning the electoral authority that was bad for Brazil.

Pacheco was elected with the support of Bolsonaro. However, the senate president met with Lula in Brasilia last week.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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