The rapporteur for the new Electoral Code blocks an attempt to reintroduce paper ballots: "a step backwards".

247 - Senator Marcelo Castro (MDB-PI), rapporteur of the Complementary Law Project (PLP 112/2021), which deals with the new Electoral Code, vetoed the inclusion of amendments that provided for the adoption of printed ballots — an agenda defended by parliamentarians linked to Bolsonaro. According to the CNN BrazilThe parliamentarian stated that reviving this discussion now would mean “a step backward”. The proposal will be analyzed by the Senate’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) next Wednesday (9).

Attempts to reinstate printed ballots came from Senators Izalci Lucas (PL-DF), Esperidião Amin (PP-SC) and Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE), but all were rejected by Marcelo Castro, according to a report released on Monday night (7). In his justification, the rapporteur reinforced the reliability of the electronic voting system, which has been in operation in Brazil since 1996. “Brazil has already held 15 general and municipal elections in this period and there has never been any evidence of fraud in the system,” he stated.

Marcelo Castro also highlighted the verification mechanisms already in place in the electoral process: “The Electoral Court offers political parties, institutions, and civil society various opportunities to audit the electronic voting machines and electoral systems. These audit possibilities occur before, during, and after the elections, including for this year's election.”

When commenting on the practical impacts of reintroducing paper ballots, he was emphatic: “It would represent enormous operational difficulties, with the installation of printers, which are highly susceptible to mechanical problems, in all voting machines, in addition to significantly increasing the cost of elections.”

The draft of the new Electoral Code has already accumulated 373 amendments, of which 335 have been analyzed. Castro presented a favorable opinion on the proposal, accepting in whole or in part more than 40 suggestions and proposing a substitute for the original text.

In April, in an interview with CNN, the senator also defended the proposal under consideration, rejecting criticisms that it would represent a step backward. "It's not a step backward when you standardize and establish clear and transparent rules; on the contrary, the whole society benefits [...] Everyone wins when the law is clear and doesn't allow for varied interpretations," he stated.