Brasília – The Brazilian minister of Foreign Affairs, Luiz Alberto Figueiredo, and the president of the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (TSE), minister Dias Toffoli, have met this Friday (24th) to discuss consular support to the elections and future projects to increase the number of Brazilian citizens registered to vote abroad. According to 2013 data from the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, there are approximately 2.8 million Brazilians living abroad.
The TSE’s International Affairs advisor, Tarcísio Costa, explained that the Ministry of External Relations (aka Itamaraty) and the TSE joined forces to stimulate Brazilians to vote, with campaigns at the consulates and on community television stations. According to him, this election had 76 polling places more than in the 2010 election. In the previous presidential election around 200,000 Brazilians voted abroad. This year, a total of 354,000 people registered to vote, an increase of 76%.
Another reason the advisor pointed out for the increment in the number of electors was the increase in maximum number of Brazilians allowed to vote in some polling places abroad, from 450 in 2010 to 650 this year. The TSE expects to increase the maximum number of voters in more polling stations for 2018.
According to Costa, the ministers also discussed the possibility of issuing voter identification cards at the consulates. Today, the registration process to vote abroad takes roughly eight months. The idea is to streamline this process so it takes two weeks and to have this new system operational as of the next elections.
The ministers also discussed international cooperation. According to the TSE advisor, the Brazilian Electoral Justice and the electronic voting system pique the curiosity of several countries, which send their officials to know more about Brazil’s voting process. Costa said that last year, Brazil received approximately 20 missions from several countries. Since the adoption of the electronic voting machines, in 2000, more than 100 foreign missions have visited the country.
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
