Brazil's electoral authorities announced on Wednesday (September 28th) that they had opened an investigation into a "
false
" document which, attributed by the media to the party of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, denounces supposed flaws in the voting system for the presidential election of sunday.
The Brazilian media published excerpts from this document presenting it as coming from a senior official of Jair Bolsonaro's Liberal Party.
This formation, however, refused to confirm its authenticity, arguing that "
the case is in the hands of justice
".
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According to fragmentary extracts published by the media, the document presented as an "
audit report
" denounces several flaws in the electronic voting system, repeating the arguments of Jair Bolsonaro and his allies who have been crying fraud for months without bringing the slightest evidence.
These flaws, argues the document quoted by the daily O Globo, can “
result in an internal or external invasion of electoral systems, with a great impact on the results
”.
The Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE), which oversees the poll, ruled on Wednesday that the document was a "
clear attempt to complicate and disrupt
" Sunday's general election.
The conclusions of the document "
are false and misleading, without any real basis, and bring together fraudulent information which undermines the democratic rule of law and the judiciary
", denounced the TSE.
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The court announced an “
investigation into the criminal responsibilities
” of the authors of the document and an “
administrative procedure and verification of the responsibility of the Liberal Party and its leaders
”.
The first round of the presidential election in Brazil is held on October 2, and for the time being the former left-wing president Luis Inazio Lula da Silva is widely outpacing Jair Bolsonaro.
The latter has several times violently attacked Brazilian institutions, such as the Supreme Court, and criticized electronic ballot boxes, raising fears that he will challenge the election results.