The president of Brazil’s Electoral Court says that what Supreme Court Justice Zanin did when he extended the voting by two hours was unconstitutional and has never happened before. Nor has it ever happened before that the candidate who came second in the first round of voting has gone on to win the election. Brazil is in chaos.
It is also worth noting that Supreme Court Justice Zanin is Lula’s former lawyer.
The President of Brazil’s Supreme Electoral Court, Judge Kassio Nunes Marques, has just issued a scathing warning:
There was absolutely no rule permitting the voting period to be extended by two hours. It was an unprecedented order from a Supreme Court judge who is on Lula’s side, and which ultimately benefited his regions.The provisional ruling, which was made after the polling stations had closed, caused serious problems in the electoral process. ‘There were no rules allowing for any extension,’ stated Nunes Marques.
And he said so with historical clarity:
‘Never, in the entire history of the TSE, has there been an extension.’
He also warned that it was practically impossible, in just a few hours, to guarantee that a judicial decision of that magnitude would not lead to side effects – particularly of a technological nature – that could significantly alter the vote count.
And he concluded with a forceful reminder to the Supreme Court: the Constitution grants the Electoral Court exclusive jurisdiction to oversee the electoral process. Not to the STF.
Even NRK’s correspondent said a Bolsonaro victory looked likely.
