São Paulo – Ten cities in Arab countries will be among the polling places abroad which will hold Brazilian presidency elections next Sunday (5th). Voters in these cities, however, will only be allowed to vote for president and vice president, and not for the other offices being contested in the election: senator, federal congressman, state congressman and state governor.
According to information provided to ANBA by the Regional Electoral Court of Brazil’s Federal District (TRE-DF in the Portuguese acronym), which is organizing the voting process abroad, only Brazilians who have transferred their polling places to the foreign cities in which they currently live will be able to cast ballots. “Those who have not applied for the transfer should justify their absence from the voting process upon their return to Brazil,” said the TRE-DF press office.
The TRE-DF’s list of foreign cities that will hold Brazilian elections includes the Arab cities of Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Doha (Qatar), Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), Cairo (Egypt), Amman (Jordan), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Beirut (Lebanon), Rabat (Morocco), Ramallah (Palestine) and Tunis (Tunisia). Ballots will be cast in cities which are home to at least 30 Brazilian citizens who have transferred their polling places.
The TRE-DF has informed that the elections will take place from 8am to 5pm, according to each country’s time zone. The voting machines used abroad will not have biometric systems, i.e. systems used for identifying voters via fingerprints; the system will only be used in Brazil, by 22 million voters.
According to information released by the TRE-DF, the voting process abroad will be held in 89 countries. The voting will take place at embassies, consular offices or Brazilian government service stations. In exceptional cases, ballots may be cast elsewhere.
To be able to vote, Brazilian citizens must show up at the polling stations with an official Brazilian ID and proof (or statement) of foreign residence.
For further information
TRE-DF website (in Portuguese): http://www.tre-df.jus.br/eleitor/eleitor-no-exterior/informacoes-ao-eleitor-no-exterior
*Translated by Rodrigo Mendonça
