The president of Brazil’s Federal Election Board (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral) (TSE), Marco Aurélio de Mello, has called on the Election Morality Forum to begin a campaign against blank and annulled votes in the country’s general elections scheduled for October.
The forum is an umbrella group consisting of, among others, the Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil) (OAB) and the Catholic Bishop’s Conference (Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil) (CNBB).
According to the president of the OAB, Roberto Busato, the idea is run a campaign to provide people with incentives to vote correctly, avoiding blank or annulled votes, which he called "a vote of despair by those who see no better future for Brazil."
Busato added that "The present crisis has made people more critical. Now if people can vote conscientiously maybe we can change things."
The OAB and the CNBB have told the TSE that they can provide 10,000 Catholic churches and another 1,000 OAB offices around the country as voter information centers where people can receive information and make denouncements of irregularities in the election campaign.
ABr
