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Votantes haciendo fila frente a un colegio electoral en Brasil durante la jornada de segunda vuelta
Fila de votantes a la entrada de un colegio electoral en Brasil, en una jornada marcada por reclamos sobre el transporte público. · Imagen generada para EPM

Lula asks to extend voting in Brazil over transport problems

Lula's campaign asked the Superior Electoral Court to extend voting until 19:00 in municipalities across nine states over transport problems, a request the…

--- The context --- Brazil holds its presidential runoff this Sunday between President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is seeking re-election, and Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. The day was marked by complaints about public transport problems, with reports of reduced bus services in São Paulo and Salvador, and by claims about access to polling places. --- The facts --- Lula's campaign asked the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) to extend voting hours in localities across several states. His coalition requested voting until 19:00 in municipalities in nine states, in addition to earlier requests for Salvador, Feira de Santana and Lauro de Freitas in Bahia, against the usual closing time of 17:00 local time. Lula voted at around 10:02 local time at a school in São Bernardo do Campo, a municipality neighboring São Paulo where he began his path as a union leader. Flávio Bolsonaro voted in Rio de Janeiro about 25 minutes after polling stations opened, at 08:00 local time, and stations are scheduled to close at 17:00, after which the electronic count will begin. --- The positions --- The coalition's legal team argued that difficulties in moving voters could affect their right to take part in the election. It also asked that those responsible for the reported incidents be detained in the act, and that hours be extended in the affected areas so transport failures do not prevent citizens from voting. TSE president Kassio Nunes Marques confirmed that the petitions would be analyzed, with no decision on any extension reported so far. The electoral authority also recalled that people in line at closing time, even in outdoor areas or at entrances, will be able to vote through the distribution of numbered tickets. --- What remains unknown --- It is not known how many voters were affected by the reduced bus services or what reach an eventual extension would have in the municipalities named. Nor is the court's final answer yet known to the requests filed during this Sunday's runoff. --- Unanswered questions --- Will the Superior Electoral Court decide to extend voting hours in the affected municipalities today? How many citizens found their journey to polling places hindered by transport problems? Will bus services be fully restored in the cities where reductions were reported during the day? --- EPM analysis --- The day's dispute was not only about who will win the presidency, but about whether everyone was able to reach a ballot box. When transport fails on election day, participation also depends on institutions' capacity to guarantee real access for voters. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, when a campaign asks for more hours to vote because transport failed, what is at stake is the elementary right to participate. The request was still pending analysis and the closing-time line guarantee offers partial relief, but it does not answer for those who never managed to arrive. Brazil deserves for every possible vote to be cast and counted, and for the reported incidents to have clear consequences, so the runoff is decided at the ballot box and not on the road toward it.
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