President Jair Bolsonaro sowed this Wednesday doubts about the scrutiny of Sunday’s elections in Brazil, in which he was second behind progressive leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, remembering that he led them much of the time before they favored his rival.
The far-right leader, in a live broadcast on his social networks, expressed his surprise at the change that occurred in the trends of the winner during the vote and hinted that it seemed to be the result of a programmed algorithm.
(Also read: Elections in Brazil: why has Bolsonaroism gained ground in the country?)
“It seems that if we had another five minutes of counting, our opponent would have guaranteed the election in the first round (by obtaining more than half of the votes),” said the head of state.
Bolsonaro led the vote for most of the time and was up to four percentage points ahead. But Lula appeared in first place with 70% of the votes counted and ended up winning with a five-point lead.
The left-wing leader, with 48.4% of the valid votes, will now have to face the far-right leader, who obtained 43.2%, in a ballot scheduled for October 30 to define the Presidency of Brazil.
Bolsonaro cited the 2014 elections, in which Lula’s political goddaughter, Dilma Rousseff, defeated the centrist Aecio Neves by a narrow difference and after also starting losing, and recalled the suspicions of fraud that arose then.
(Also read: Lula and Bolsonaro start an aggressive dispute for the second round in Brazil)
“Even the graph of the evolution (of the count) taking into account the percentage of votes that were computed showed a uniform geometric figure, very typical of algorithms and very similar to that of 2014, when Aecio Neves was defeated,” he said.
The president, however, did not question the transparency of the Brazilian electoral system -as he had been doing before the elections- nor to ignore the result of the vote, which he feared might happen if he lost.
“We had the scrutiny and some problems came up, but we’ve put those problems behind us,” he said.
The head of state also criticized the polling firms, which even predicted Lula’s election in the first round, and accused them of having tried to manipulate voters.
(You can read: Brazil: What do Bolsonaro and Lula lack to win in the second round?)
If we had another five minutes, our opponent would have guaranteed the election in the first round.
The last polls before the elections predicted that Lula would obtain more than half of the votes and would take a 14-point lead over Bolsonaro, and none perceived the strength that the head of state had.
“It was a scandal about the polls, which really influenced the results of the elections. All the polls were wrong and that induces the voter to vote in the one that leads them. They were all wrong against me. It is clear that it was in bad faith to serve the interests of those who financed the polls,” he said.
*With information from EFE
More news
Brazil: Tebet, third in elections, announces its support for Lula in the second round
Brazil: former president Lula da Silva accused of having ‘a pact with the devil’
Bolsonaro: ‘The change could be worse; look at Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela’
#Brazil #Bolsonaro #questions #result #Sundays #vote #time