Brazil's Bolsonaro files petition with election authorities

69
2
Brazil's Bolsonaro files petition with election authorities

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro filed a petition with Brazil's election authorities who are formally contesting the results of this year's fiercely contested presidential election.

Bolsonaro lost a run-off vote last month against leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da SilvaLula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, who is due to be inaugurated as president on January 1.

Since then, Bolsonaro has stopped short of explicitly conceding that he lost, but has previously stated that he would continue to fulfill all the commandments of the constitution, leading observers to believe that he would cooperate with the transfer of power.

Bolsonaro and the leader of his right-wing Liberal Party allege that some voting machines have malfunctioned and any votes cast through them should be annulled, according to a petition filed on Tuesday.

According to analysis done by a company hired by Bolsonaro's party, the complaint claims that removing those votes would give Bolsonaro victory.

According to Bolsonaro's petition, election officials said that since the same voting machines were used in the first round of elections, Bolsonaro and his party must amend their complaint to include those results in order to make its way through the courts, affiliate CNN Brasil reported.

The Supreme Electoral Court Chief Justice Alexandre Moraes gave Bolsonaro and his petitioners 24 hours to amend their submission.

Bolsonaro's Liberal Party responded to a request that the scope of the scope be limited to second round voting.

The Liberal Party officials held a press conference in which they doubled down on claims that some ballots used in the second round of elections could be liable to error, but they claimed they did not intend to contest the results.

We do not intend to stop anyone from taking office, just that they follow the law. The ballot can't be taken into account if there are indications of error, according to the Liberal Party President Valdemar Costa Neto.

He said that the new election would be crazy and we are not asking for a new election.

The heated election last month came amid a tense political climate in Brazil, which has been struggling with high inflation, limited growth and rising poverty.

Lula da Silva received more than 60 million votes according to the final tally of the election authority, the most in Brazilian history and breaking his own record from 2006.