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I haven’t slept a full night in three weeks ahead of the polls opening in Brazil today. I might be shouting into a void here, but if you can spare a few seconds to send good energy towards our elections today and for the largest country in South America to beat fascism, please do so. 🇧🇷

❤️

There is blatant voter suppression happening right now in Brazil: flights cancelled and buses suspended to Northeastern capitals where Lula holds the majority, polling stations changed to thousands of kms away last-minute, voters in London told they need to go to Edinburgh… This is criminal.

We have never seen anything like it before. Proven Meta and U.S. interference in the first round; now this criminal voter suppression in the second round. The far-right loves calling corruption when they themselves are against democracy when it benefits their side. This is torturous to watch.

An arrest warrant has been issued against Salvador's secretary of transport, one of Brazil's largest Lula-voting hubs, for keeping dozens of buses off the streets today. Again: what’s happening in Brazil is criminal.

This criminal suspension of public transport, of course, affects the working class the most, those who overwhelmingly vote for Lula and who have to carefully plan their workdays to be able to get to the polls. If the buses don’t come, there are no hours, no minutes to spare. Those are votes gone.

Transport issues in major capitals across Brazil right now, all major Lula-voting hubs, including the city of São Paulo. More arrest warrants for mayors across Brazil are currently being issued while the Labour Party tries to get voting times extended (polls are due to close in 95 minutes).

We are watching a coup d’état attempt unfold in real time in Brazil. I’m consumed by desperation.

544 buses stopped in Bahia! Only one bus per line on the streets of Teresina, a capital with a population of almost a million! Metro stoppages in São Paulo with no replacement buses! No buses in São Gonçalo, a city in the state of Rio governed by the far-right!

Voting times extended by two hours in Salvador as the Labour Party tries to get extensions in more affected cities. The party is urging people to vote but the truth is that this criminal transport interference will have caused a massive loss in voting among the largely pro-Lula working class.

What’s happening with public transport is the one confirmed voter suppression mechanism at the moment so it’s what I am focusing on, but there are SEVERAL reports of Lula voters being coerced by the military police, Bolsonaro voters threatening anyone wearing pro-Lula symbols, generalised violence…

Here’s a shocking video of Bolsonaro supporters throwing stones and bricks at Labour Party councilwoman Iara Pimentel (PT-Montes Claros) in Minas Gerais last night. One of many shocking displays of public violence by Flávio Bolsonaro supporters.

More shocking displays by Bolsonaro supporters in the last 24 hours: voters wearing T-shirts that say “long live fascism,” doing a Nazi salute when entering the polls, and a white man walking a Black man on a chain at a pro-Bolsonaro gathering in Rio de Janeiro.

There have now been major voter suppression occurrences registered in 12 out of 27 states in Brazil. Major liberal Brazilian news channel ICL reports São Paulo mayor Ricardo Nunes, who supports Flávio Bolsonaro, said earlier he couldn’t “justify the costs” of running a full fleet in the city today.

These are historically tight elections in Brazil, with only 1.8% separating the two candidates in the first round, so this level of voter suppression can decide who wins tonight. Political pundits are now saying it is highly likely there will be chaos in the streets tonight following the results.

Over the last week, Pro-Bolsonaro groups have been telling their members to vote as soon as the polls opened. No one knew quite why they were giving out such instructions, but it’s becoming clearer with every passing minute.

Kassio Nunes Marques, President of the Superior Electoral Court of Brazil, is responsible for deciding whether or not polls stay open for two extra hours across the states affected by voter suppression. Nunes Marques has received severe criticism for his pro-Bolsonaro stance ahead of the elections.

The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has ruled that polls will stay open for an extra 2h. The decision was made less than 30 minutes before they were due to close. Now there’s a massive amount of logistical work needed to keep polling places open, to make people aware of the new times… Pure chaos.

Another horrible, horrible showcase of the violence and hatred from the pro-Bolsonaro wave:

Despite orders for polls to remain open for an extra two hours, results are already coming in, including from states with the strongest evidence of voter suppression, like Bahia. This will be a long night. What is happening is an unprecedented crime against democracy in Brazil.

At the height of this chaos, the official The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) page for reports of voter suppression and any irregularities with the democratic process is down. It keeps getting worse.

Leaving this beautiful, moving photo by Antonello Veneri here as a brief balm. Taken this morning in Salvador, one of the cities most affected by voter suppression, and showing the pure elation of Lula voters coming out of the polling station after exercising their democratic right.

TSE statement: polling stations that have already closed can’t reopen but others should stay open until 7 PM. A glaring discrepancy in the electoral process. With no possibility of electronic voting, paper ballots should be in place, but everyone involved is severely unprepared for this scenario.

Do you know of a good English language source? If there is one?

Maybe The Guardian? www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...