The Federal Highway Police (PRF) is prohibited from blocking roads on the dates of the first and second rounds of municipal elections without prior communication to the Electoral Court.
The decision was taken after the signing of regulations by the High Election Court (TSE) and the Ministry of Justice, Thursday (19).
The deal was signed nearly two years after the 2022 elections, when allegations emerged that PRF members had blocked roads to prevent voters from travelling.
This blockade, which occurred during the government of Jair Bolsonaro, was the subject of an investigation and led to the preventive arrest of the company’s former director Silvinei Vasques, who denies any wrongdoing.
The signing took place at a ceremony at the TSE. Justice Minister Ricardo Lewandowski called the PRF’s actions in the last presidential election “a shameful act”:
“This means that we do not want and will not see a repeat of the shameful actions that occurred in the past, where voters were prevented, due to state coercion, from moving freely.”
TSE President, Minister Cármen Lúcia, stated that the measure was necessary because of “a very melancholic experience”.
“It is a very melancholic experience, at least contrary to democracy, that makes us have to take measures like this, so that voters have the guarantee, security and peace of mind that on election day they will move freely.”
In the proposal prepared by the TSE and the Ministry of Justice, to which the PRF is subordinate, there is a determination that any blockade hypothesis not related to the disregard of traffic safety regulations must be communicated and justified.
In these cases, the chairman of the Regional General Election Court must be contacted “in a timely manner”, with an indication of alternative routes.
The regulation also stipulates that PRF patrols on October 6 and 27, the dates of the first and second rounds, “must not constitute an obstacle to the free movement of voters,” and prohibits blockades for administrative reasons only, for example, a defeated card.
Vehicles approaching voters will only be allowed if they are “proven to be violating traffic laws and endangering the public while carrying out the operation”.
The PF charged those responsible
Last month, former Justice Minister Anderson Torres and former PRF director Silvinei Vasques were named by the Federal Police (PF) for blockades carried out on the day of the second round of the 2022 elections.
PF considered them to have committed a criminal act of obstructing the exercise of political rights. Both denied any irregularities in their actions.
PF also asked the STF to provide more time to interrogate the accused and submit the conclusions of its investigation to the Court.
*With information from O Globo
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