Mato Grosso leads cases of electoral harassment in the Legal Amazon; State concentrates 49 denunciations, says MPT

Marcela Leiros – from Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – Mato Grosso, which is part of the Legal Amazon, is the region’s leader in reports of cases of harassment to force voters in choosing one candidate or another, a crime known as electoral harassment. To the Estadão site, the Labor Public Ministry (MPT) pointed out that the state concentrates 49 cases. In all, in the Amazon region, there were 142 denunciations.

Right after Mato Grosso are Tocantins (47), Pará (21), Maranhão (10), Rondônia (10), Amazonas (2), Acre (1), Amapá (1) and Roraima (1). The agency said it does not classify the complaints according to political parties.

Article 301 of the Electoral Code explains that it is punishable to “Use violence or serious threat to coerce someone into voting, or not voting, for a particular candidate or party, even if the ends sought are not achieved”. The penalty is imprisonment of up to four years and payment of five to 15 days’ fine.

Mato Grosso

In Mato Grosso, even the state government was denounced for the practice of electoral harassment. The Labor Court accepted part of the requests made by the Labor Prosecutor’s Office in Mato Grosso (MPT-MT) and determined that the State and the State Department of Education refrain from coercing or influencing the vote of servers, employees and outsourced workers in this year’s election.

Read also: Election: reports of electoral harassment increase more than 7 times after the first round

The MPT said it had received reports that servers of the folder were being coerced into participating in political events in favor of a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic. There was dissemination in a WhatsApp group, an invitation called “Meeting of Women”, which was held in the first round and would be held again on Tuesday, 25.

The determination obliged the State of Mato Grosso to disclose the judicial decision on the walls of the State Department of Education and to its employees, by e-mail. Failure to comply with the measures carries a fine of R$ 100 thousand.

“This is an illegal practice, an electoral crime in the same way as vote buying, since it involves the use of serious threats to coerce the voter into voting or not voting for a certain candidate. The Electoral Prosecutor’s Office is receiving these complaints and will determine responsibility for each one”, warns Erich Raphael Masson, the regional electoral prosecutor of Mato Grosso.

Brazil

At the national level, data from MPT points out that only the complaints of electoral harassment against workers from the private and public sectors increased by 2,577% between the first and second rounds of the election. Minas Gerais, considered the determining state in the presidential race, leads the list of electoral harassment, with 449 denunciations.

The MPT received, until this Thursday 27th, 1,633 denunciations from 1,284 different companies. At least 1,572 of them occurred after October 2nd. The number is almost eight times higher than the cases that reached the MPT throughout the 2018 election period, when 212 reports were recorded.

CPI on Electoral Harassment

The repercussion of cases of electoral harassment by businessmen, company managers, and even mayors, who threatened male and female workers, demanding or inducing them to vote for President Jair Bolsonaro, motivated parliamentarians to take action against the practice.

On Tuesday 25th, Senator Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG) informed the Plenary that the petition for the Electoral Harassment CPI has already obtained 28 signatures, one more than the minimum required. According to the petition, the commission will have 11 members and seven alternates, with a work term of 90 days.

The goal of the CPI is to investigate allegations in which workers were induced or coerced to vote for President Jair Bolsonaro (PL). Prizes and rewards were also offered, according to the senator. Silveira even cited, in the Senate, the case of a meat packing plant in Betim (MG), which forced employees to wear shirts with the slogan and number of President Bolsonaro, candidate for reelection, as well as to participate in a rally on the company premises during lunch hours.