Brazil Military Sees No Proof of Election Fraud, but Won't Rule It Out
Brazil's military showed in its report that there were no indications of election fraud in recent ballots, sending the 63-page report to Brazil's electoral authorities after days of speculation that it would support claims of Jair Bolsonaro that the election was fraudulent.
Bolsonaro's supporters hoped the military would back up the election fraud claims. However, Brazil's senior electoral official noted that they "received with satisfaction the final report from the Defense Ministry."
The electoral official added that it was in line with all the other monitoring agencies and does not point to any fraud or inconsistency in electronic ballot boxes or in the 2022 elections.
The Brazil military's report, under Defense Ministry, was published a day after the Brazilian Bar Association said that it had found no reports of anything untoward during the rounds of voting for president, Congress, governors, and state legislatures in 27 states.
The report noted that it found evidence "the electrical justice system preserved evenness and security."
Brazil Military Refuses to Rule Out Election Fraud
Brazil's Defense Ministry's refused to rule out the possibility of election fraud entirely despite their report showing that there is no such thing in the electoral process.
It described the possible potential for a hypothetical security threat in the coding of programs for Brazil's electronic voting machines.
The department said that the Defense Ministry "could not rule out the influence of a malicious code."
The ministry added that it was not possible "to guarantee that the programs that were executed" in the voting machines are "free from malicious insertions," which would change their intended use.
The ministry, however, did not offer evidence to suggest that such issues existed. In addition, the ministry called on Brazil's Electoral Court to carry out its own investigation.
Meanwhile, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva condemned the involvement of the military as "deplorable" during a Thursday conference with political allies in Brazil.
He added that a president of the republic did not have the "right to involve the Armed Forces" when it comes to the probe of electronic ballots.
One professor at Rio de Janeiro State University said he believed that there was an "underlying strategy." He said that the report could be to generate doubt about the results of the election.
João Cezar de Castro Rocha added in a CNN report that the "deliberately ambiguous tone" of the Defense Ministry aims to keep Bolsonaro supporters engaged.
Jair Bolsonaro Vs. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Bolsonaro agreed to a transition of power on Tuesday, which relinquished fears that he there were stealing votes, according to The New York Times.
Bolsonaro then thanked his supporters and encouraged protests to be peaceful. However, Bolsonaro did not acknowledge he lost, and that the election had been fair.
Bolsonaro's chief of staff, Ciro Nogueira, said that the president has authorized him to start the transition process once requested, based on the law.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
WATCH: Bolsonaro's supporters refuse to accept Brazil's election result - from Sky News
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