Rio de Janeiro court requests troops for election runoff — The Rio Times

The Electoral Court of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro unanimously approved a request on October 15 to deploy federal troops to secure the second round of the presidential election, scheduled for October 25. The Rio Times reports.

The Regional Electoral Court of Rio de Janeiro will send the request to Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court in Brasília. This body must approve the deployment of the military, after which the Ministry of Defense will receive an official request to send them.

Reasons for the request

The court’s president, Cláudio de Mello Tavares, stated that the public security situation has not changed. According to the court’s assessment, armed criminal groups and paramilitary formations control significant territories and polling stations in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area, posing a serious threat to free expression of voters’ will.

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Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro will compete in the second round of the presidential election. In the state of Rio de Janeiro, the gubernatorial election concluded in the first round, so voters there will elect only the president.

Where troops may be deployed

According to Agência Brasil, personnel from the army, navy, and air force may assist with the delivery of electronic voting machines and patrol major roads in 15 cities. The list includes, among others, Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Duque de Caxias, Nova Iguaçu, São Gonçalo, and Belford Roxo.

Before the first round, the Superior Electoral Court had already approved the use of federal forces in the state. The Ministry of Defense reported that 26,500 military personnel were then deployed in 482 municipalities across 12 states throughout Brazil for election security and logistics.