Brazil: Congress rejects Bolsonaro voting reforms

Brazil, Aug 11: Brazil's lower house of Congress on Tuesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment, backed by President Jair Bolsonaro, that would change the country's voting system to require paper ballots.

The proposal called for the adoption of printed receipts, casting doubts on the current all-electronic voting system used by the country in elections, plebiscites and referendums.

The amendment needed 308 votes to pass but only received 229, local media reported. With one legislator abstaining, 218 voted against the change.

Last week, the proposal was rejected by a congressional committee that voted 23 to 11 to turn down the amendments that have the Brazilian president's explicit support.

Bolsonaro has claimed the country's electronic voting system is open to fraud, potentially sowing doubts in case he loses next year's presidential election. Critics have drawn similarities between his approach and that of former US President Donald Trump, who is still alleging voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

A week ago, a group of current and former judges issued a stinging rebuke to Bolsonaro and said if Brazil goes back to its manual counting of 150 million printed ballots, the chance of fraud would be higher.

Source: DW