The president of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), Justice Kassio Nunes Marques, authorized a faster procedure to approve the transportation of Indigenous people, quilombola community members, and residents of traditional communities to voting locations in the second round of the elections.
The Electoral Justice will continue to authorize the trips, but will not need to analyze each trip separately.
The decision was signed on Saturday (the 24th), after the federal government presented a logistics plan to take voters from hard-to-reach areas to the polling stations.
On Friday (the 23rd), Nunes Marques had denied a request from the Brasil Pronto Pra Mais coalition that vehicles and vessels from the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai), the Special Secretariat of Indigenous Health (Sesai), and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) provide transportation without authorization from the Electoral Justice.
At that time, the justice ruled that the trips could only take place with prior authorization from electoral judges and upon presentation of information about vehicles, vessels, drivers, routes, and schedules.
Faster decisions
The new decision maintains this requirement, but changes the approval process. Instead of analyzing each trip separately, judges may authorize, all at once, sets of trips previously planned by the federal government, with details of the vehicles, drivers, routes, schedules, and estimated number of passengers.
According to the justice, the measure preserves the Electoral Justice's oversight and avoids the problem of insufficient time to review the authorizations before the vote.
The decision also requisitions, for this Sunday (the 25th), vehicles and vessels from Funai, Sesai, the Special Indigenous Health Districts (DSEIs), the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, and other federal agencies included in the federal government's logistics plan.
Logistical support
The means of transport in question may only be used on trips authorized by the Electoral Justice. In these situations, they will be considered officially in the service of the Electoral Justice.
The justice also ruled that vehicles and vessels must have visible identification and that there must be no electoral advertising or references to the government or any candidacy during the trips.
The issue gained prominence in recent days following questions about the access of Indigenous voters from remote regions to voting locations.
In Amazonas, the Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley (Univaja) requested logistical support to guarantee the transportation of residents of the region, and the state's Regional Electoral Court later confirmed that the request was met.