MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Electoral Tribunal sends strong message to president elect Bolsonaro underlining the no-incident election

At precisely 19:18 on Sunday Bolsonaro was declared “mathematically” president elect of Brazil

At exactly 19h18m, Sunday 28 October, the Electoral Superior Tribunal, TSE, minister Rosa Weber stated that Jair Bolsonaro, candidate for the “Brazil above all, God above all of us” coalition was mathematically elected president of Brazil. The new president is to take office next January first, for the period from 2019 to 2022.

 At that precise time and with 94.44% of votes counted, Minister Rosa Weber said that Jair Bolsonaro had obtained 55.205.640 votes, equivalent to 55.54% of cast votes, while Fernando Haddad from the Coalition “People happy again”, had obtained 44.193.523 votes, equivalent to 44.46% of cast ballots.

Based on these numbers, candidate Jair Bolsonaro was effectively at that moment, mathematically president elect of Brazil.

Summing up Sunday's election the TSE president said that the runoff took place in the most absolute normality and transparency with the expected situations of the electoral process in a country with continental dimensions such as Brazil. Ms Weber also mentioned that there were 147,3 million Brazilians registered to vote in the first round and the runoff, with 454,400 electoral circuits in the 26 states of the Federation and the Federal District.

Ms Weber also released abstention provisional numbers in the second round of the election and at the moment of making them public: 25.834.712, equivalent to 21.07% of the electorate. In the first round abstentions reached 29.941.171 or 20.33%. It was also mentioned that 4.658 of electronic voting machines had to be replaced this Sunday which is a number slightly higher than that of the first round, 4.099.

The TSE president then thanked all participants in the electoral process and had special words for “all those voters who turned out as protagonists of the major party of our democracy”. Likewise with the OAS Observers mission and international visitors who followed the electoral process both in the first and second rounds.

Another member of the TSE, Minister Dias Toffoli followed but with a more incisive speech criticizing all those unfair and dishonest attacks against the Electoral Justice during the process and called upon the president elect, as his first action, to swear responsibility and abidance to the Constitution since it is “a moment of union, serenity and to combat radicalism and intolerance”.

Attorney General Raquel Dogde pointed out that the Brazilian society had much advanced during the long electoral process which is a “precious legacy” that the president elect is receiving from the people and he must learn to honor. Dodge also underlines that Brazilian institutions are strong, and reaffirmed the independence and autonomy of the Public Prosecution which remains at the service and interests of society, underlining its constitutional role with the new government.

Finally the Public Security minister, Raul Jungmann said that the election runoff has been of “a memorable peacefulness” and the “storm of fake news” from the first round was not repeated in the second round on 28 October”.