Police operations in the 2022 Brazilian general election
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Police operations in the 2022 Brazilian general election were coordinated actions carried out by the Federal Police of Brazil and the Federal Highway Police, mainly during the second round of the 2022 Brazilian general election. They targeted public transportation vehicles, mainly in the Northeast Region, Brazil, allegedly with the aim of ensuring transportation safety according to their supporters, or delaying the arrival of these vehicles at polling places according to critics.
On 29 October, the eve of the second round of the presidential election, news of possible operations by the Federal Police and the Federal Highway Police were already causing several reports and denunciations by politicians. The allegations were that the police, whose agents were mostly Bolsonarists, intended to carry out inspection operations in public transportation, especially in the northeast of the country, a region where most voters support Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with the aim of delaying transportation and thus preventing people from reaching the polling locations in time to vote.[1] The president of the Superior Electoral Court, Alexandre de Moraes, issued an order for the police to clarify the accusations.[2] As a consequence, the minister issued an order prohibiting the entities from carrying out any operation that would cause impediments to the circulation of public transportation on Sunday and stated that the directors of the police forces would be held responsible for non-compliance.[1]
The order came in the wake of a Supreme Federal Court decision that ruled on 19 October for the legality of providing free public transportation on election day.[3] As a consequence of the decision, all Brazilian capitals[4] and several states, voluntarily,[5] or by force of judicial decisions,[6] offered free transportation on the date in question. President Jair Bolsonaro's campaign challenged the decisions, allegedly on the grounds that the measure tends to decrease abstention among the poorest people, the universe of voters where his opponent gets the largest share of votes.[7]